This Day in Music History: Keith Richards Claims 'I Snorted My Dad's Ashes'

On this day (April 3) in 2007, Keith Richards claimed that he snorted a line of his late father's ashes.

The Rolling Stones guitar legend made the claim in an interview with the NME. "The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father," he revealed. "I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow."

"My dad wouldn't have cared, he didn't give a sh--. It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive," Richards added.

Richards made the statement about five years after his father Bert, a factory worker and wounded World War II veteran, died at the age of 84.

After the story made headlines, Richards' manager Jane Rose attempted to walk it back, telling MTV News that his statement was made "in jest" and she couldn't believe that it was taken seriously.

But the journalist who conducted the interview for NME, Mark Beaumont was convinced that Richards was serious about the alleged incident. "He did seem to be quite honest about it," he said. "There were too many details for him to be making it up," Beaumont told BBC news.

While Richards survived the tale of snorting his father relatively unscathed, he wasn't so lucky in what he called his most life-threatening drug experience.

"Someone put strychnine in my dope. It was in Switzerland. I was totally comatose, but I was totally awake," Richards recalled. "I could listen to everyone, and they were like, 'He's dead, he's dead!', waving their fingers and pushing me about. I was thinking, 'I'm not dead!'" he said.

Richards, who turned 80 in December, also spoke about his longevity, following years of drug and alcohol abuse. "I've no pretensions about immortality ... I was number one on the Who's 'Likely To Die' list for 10 years. I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list," he said.

"Some doctor told me I had six months to live, and I went to their funeral," he added.

Richards did have a scare back in 2006 when he injured his head. Initial reports said that he'd fallen out of a coconut tree, but Richards said he was merely sitting on a "shrub." However, he did not dispute that the injury was serious.

"I've been trepanned," he said. "That's quite an interesting experience, especially for my brain surgeon, who saw my thoughts flying around in my brain. I've got pictures of it, mate. They cut my head, brain, skull open, went in and pulled out the crap, and put some of it back again."

"But that's the way it is. "I mean, sh--, Keith Richards has got to do everything once."

The Stones, meanwhile, are still rolling. Despite the death of drummer Charlie Watts in 2021, the band is touring once again with Richards and Mick Jagger, also 80, continuing as the only original members. The band's Hackney Diamonds Tour, sponsored by AARP, kicks off April 28 at NRG Stadium in Houston and runs through July 17 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

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Keith Richards, Rolling Stones, Today in music history