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Six decades of rock ‘n’ roll: The extraordinary life of Charlie Watts in pictures

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3 years ago

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Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stone’s long-time drummer and lover of all things jazz, passed away this week.

He was 80 years old.

Watts, who had celebrated his birthday in June, joined the Rolling Stones in 1963.

He had grown up in Wembley, north London, and met fellow Stone, Mick Jagger, as a teenager.

Sky News has dug through archives to show Watts’ extraordinary life in pictures.

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1964: Charlie Watts – a year after joining the Rolling Stones
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1964: Charlie Watts with his wife Shirley, who he married in that year – they had met before he joined the Stones. Pic: John Schute/Daily Mail/Shutterstock
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1964: The Rolling Stones performing, with Watts on the drums at the back. Pic: Bill Orchard/Shutterstock
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1968: Watts performing with The Rolling Stones on the short-lived Frost On Saturday. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
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1968: The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus – where the group organised a show featuring Jethro Tull, The Who and John Lennon in a circus tent. Pic: David Magnus/Shutterstock
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1969: Watts is on the right here, as new member Mick Taylor (middle) joins The Rolling Stones, replacing Brian Jones who the band fired, shortly before his death the same year
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1975: Elton John paid tribute to Charlie Watts following the announcement of his death – here they are together in the 70s. Pic: Dezo Hoffman/Shutterstock
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1985: He wasn’t just the Stone’s drummer though – here he is with his jazz band playing at the world famous Ronnie Scott’s club. Pic: Alan Davidson/Shutterstock
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1986: Watts with his family at the Grammy Awards Presentation at the Kensington Roof Gardens. Pic: Alan Davidson/Shutterstock
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1990: Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts blowing out the candles on Ronnie and Charlie’s birthday cake. Ronnie is 43 years old and Charlie is 49. Pic: Eugene Adebari/Shutterstock
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2001: Watts and jazz group The Tentet performing in Barcelona
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2002: The Rolling Stones in New York promoting their tour – they had been together for an incredible 40 years that year. Pic: Richard Young/Shutterstock
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2010: Watts performing with the band ‘The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie’ at the Casino in Herisau Switzerland. Pic: Ennio Leanza/EPA/Shutterstock
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2013: An apparent festival cynic, he sent this photo to the Eavis family after playing Glastonbury – “To Michael, I was wrong – it was a great day”. Pic courtesy of Emily Eavis
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2013: Still going strong – The Rolling Stones performing on stage during Barclaycard British Summer Time in Hyde Park after headlining Glastonbury the same year.
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2014: The Rolling Stones arrive at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel – still clocking up the air miles. Pic: Israel Sun/Shutterstock
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2018: Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts during a Rolling Stones gig at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland

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