There’s a version of ageing in rock music that gets framed as decline.
Slower hands. Fewer notes. Less of what made the player great in the first place.
Keith Richards doesn’t see it that way.
Speaking recently, the Rolling Stones guitarist addressed how arthritis has changed his playing, and rather than presenting it as a loss, he describes something closer to an adjustment. Not a retreat, but a shift in approach.
The reality is simple.
He can’t play the way he used to.
"I'm not as fast as I used to be," Richards admits.
And that’s where the obvious narrative would normally end.
Except it doesn’t.
Because instead of trying to force his way back to something that isn’t there anymore, Richards has leaned into the limitations themselves. The reduction in speed hasn’t stopped him, it’s pushed him into finding different ways to play.
"At my age, what I find most interesting about the guitar is you can compensate for certain disabilities and nimbleness and find other ways of getting around the problem," he explained.
That idea, compensation rather than resistance, reframes the entire situation.
"And it teaches you another thing, you never stop learning with the damn thing. I love it, and it's my friend forever."
There’s something telling in that phrasing. Not frustration. Not resignation.
Curiosity.
Because even now, after decades of defining one of the most recognisable guitar sounds in music, Richards still treats the instrument as something to explore rather than something he’s already mastered.
The physical changes are still there, though.
"Well, I do have arthritis and very large knuckles," he said. "They don't hurt, but it does get in the way sometimes. I'm going for a wider fingerboard for that reason."
It’s a practical solution to a practical problem.
Adapt the instrument. Adjust the technique. Keep going.
And that seems to be the core of it.
There’s no attempt to dramatise the situation. No sense of finality. Just a daily negotiation between what his hands can do and what he wants them to do.
"Honestly, I just look at my hands, and my hands look at me, and we say, 'Well, let’s see what we can do today,'" Richards said.
"And that's the way I play guitar. I look at it and say, 'We've got nothing else to do. Come here. I love you!'"
It’s a surprisingly simple philosophy.
Show up. Work with what’s there. Don’t overcomplicate it.
Meanwhile, the band itself isn’t slowing down in any meaningful sense.
The Rolling Stones last toured in 2024 in support of Hackney Diamonds, their 2023 album, and there are already indications that more material is on the way. Producer Andrew Watt has confirmed that recording sessions have taken place, even if details remain limited.
"I've said it before, but it's like working for Batman," Watt said. "When the tongue is up in the air, you just go ... I can say we did some recording together, but that's all I can say."
Richards’ son Marlon has gone slightly further, suggesting the band already has enough material for a follow-up.
Which, again, reinforces the same idea.
There’s no definitive endpoint here.
Just continuation.
And if Richards’ approach to guitar now tells you anything, it’s this:
The method changes.
The intent doesn’t.
