Keith Richards branded Ronnie Wood a 'quitter' during a sobriety attempt
Ronnie Wood has claimed his Rolling Stone bandmate Keith Richards dubbed him a “quitter” when he made an effort to get sober.
The 72-year-old recalls the comment came as he was due to appear on stage in August 2005 for the first time after attempting to quit drugs and alcohol. While Mick Jagger was supportive, Richards had other words for him.
He told MOJO magazine: "I do remember going on stage clean for the first time, it was at this club in Canada for the start of a tour.
Read more: Keith Richards: going solo taught me to respect Mick Jagger
"I was like this, [terrified], and Mick whispered, 'It's alright, you can do it, don't worry.'
"And Keith's going, 'Rehab's for quitters!' Trying to make out I was the weakling. But it takes a lot of strength to do this if indeed I'm gonna be able to do it at all because there's no guarantees."
Wood managed to kick his drug and alcohol habits nearly a decade ago on his own efforts. He went on to suggest to the publication that rehabilitation centres are more concerned with "big money" and questioned whether they wished for patients to relapse for financial gain.
The musician has seen other seismic shifts take place in his life over the past decade following his 2009 split from ex-wife Jo Wood.
Wood went on to wed third wife Sally in 2012 before the pair welcomed twin girls Gracie Jane and Alice Rose in 2016.
There was also a health scare for the rocker in 2017 when a cancerous lesion was found on his lung.
However, he managed to make a recovery following emergency surgery to remove part of the organ.