Former Rolling Stones Member Opens up About His “Pretty Dismal” Touring Experience With the Band

Many people dream of becoming a rock star. For Bill Wyman, it actually happened. Now 87, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member played bass with the legendary Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. However, Wyman revealed in a recent interview that touring with the British rock icons wasn’t all glitter, glamour and excitement. In fact, he said, it was actually rather dull.

Bill Wyman Says Touring With the Rolling Stones Was “Pretty Dismal”

In 1962, childhood friends Keith Richards and Mick Jagger—along with guitarist Dick Taylor—left behind their previous band, Blues Incorporated. The trio joined slide guitarist Brian Jones and keyboardist Ian Stewart to form the earliest iteration of the Rolling Stones.

That same year, Bill Wyman replaced Taylor after the bassist left the group to resume his studies at Sidcup Art College. First playing covers, the Rolling Stones found even more success with original material, such as No. 1 hits “Paint It Black” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

Reaching unprecedented success in the ’60s meant a lot of time on the road for the Rolling Stones. And while that may sound like a dream come true, Wyman says it was actually “pretty dismal.”

“[You] never really saw anywhere. You flew into a town, you’d be straight into limousines at the airport and then straight into the underground car park of the hotel,” the former bassist told Classic Rock in an interview this month.

The rockers were then confined to their hotel rooms until showtime, Wyman said. And even then, “You did your show, went straight back to your hotel room, where you stayed until you got up in the morning and left for the airport to go to the next town,” he said.

Why Bill Wyman Should Have Left Sooner

Bill Wyman officially left the Rolling Stones in January 1993. And in hindsight, he admits he “should’ve done it a lot earlier.” While Mick Jagger and Keith Richards reaped the financial awards of the band’s success, Wyman says that he, drummer Charlie Watts, and guitarist Ronnie Wood “were scraping by.”

[RELATED: Bill Wyman Reveals How It Took Two Years for The Rolling Stones To Realize He Quit]

“I hung on for a three-tour ending across ’89 and ’90, after seven years of nothing, and I’d ended up with a bank overdraft of £200,000, because we weren’t earning anything,” the ex-Stone told Classic Rock.

Featured image by Richard Young/Shutterstock

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