Rolling Stones Make Decision on 2021 Tour Following Death of Drummer Charlie Watts

The Rolling Stones’ 12-date No Filter Tour will go on as planned this fall following the death of original band member Charlie Watts. In a statement to Rolling Stone magazine on Thursday, promoter Concerts West confirmed, “The Rolling Stones’ tour dates are moving ahead as planned.” Earlier in August, the band announced that Watts would not be joining the band on tour after he underwent an undisclosed medical procedure. At the time, the Stones confirmed that Steve Jordan, a member of Stones guitarist Keith Richards’ X-Pensive Winos side project, would be taking over for Watts.

The Stones were originally supposed to tour the U.S. from May to July 2020, but the No Filter tour was postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The tour was finally rescheduled in July of this year and will kick off on Sept. 26 at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. The tour will stretch a total of 12 dates, taking the band to North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Nevada, Michigan, and more before ending at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 20. On Oct. 13, the group will play at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Currently, the Stones’ official website does not list any information on the tour, the site now showing only a portrait of Watts.

Watts passed away at the age of 80 on Tuesday, Aug. 24, his publicist confirmed. A cause of death was not given, though a statement confirmed he “passed away peacefully in a London hospital” surrounded by loved ones.

“Charlie was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and also as a member of The Rolling Stones one of the greatest drummers of his generation,” the statement, which the Stones shared to their Twitter account, continued. “We kindly request that the privacy of his family, band members and close friends is respected at this difficult time.’”

Born in London on June 2, 1941, Watts began performing with The Rolling Stones in 1962 before he officially joined the group in January 1963. He played his first gig with the band at the Flamingo Club, with Keith Richards later telling Rolling Stone, “when we got Charlie, that really made it for us.” Aside from Mick Jagger and Richards, he is the only other member of the band to appear on every single Rolling Stones album. Watts and the Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. In 2006, Watts was elected into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame and the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame by Vanity Fair the same year.