Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, 77, Admits He's Dumped Drink and Drugs For 'Obsession' With Ancient Artist: 'I'm Happier Than Ever'
Ronnie Wood has become 'obsessed' with the works of Caravaggio.
Nov. 11 2024, Published 1:10 p.m. ET
Rolling Stones rocker Ronnie Wood has a new addiction – an ancient Baroque painter.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the veteran musician, who is sober after beating his drink and drugs demons, says 16th century artist Caravaggio has become his new "obsession".
Wood beat his drink and drugs demons.
The 77-year-old said: "My most recent inspiration and obsession is Caravaggio."
The Italian artist's sexuality put him in the spotlight in his heyday. with experts later dubbing him a "gay icon" for his paintings of naked male models, who were often street boys or prostitutes.
Wood, a talented artist himself, is showcasing his own paintings at a special exhibit in London this week and admits six of the 27 works are inspired by Caravaggio.
Wood has found a new passion in art and has an exhibit this week in London.
One, called Undermath, reimagines his bandmates in the style of the Italian artist's 1600 painting The Calling of Saint Matthew.
A print version will be on sale for £2,000 and the Stones stars' thoroughly approve.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, he said: "Keith (Richards) says I'm very prolific.
"There are so many different styles. Being a Gemini, my appetite for inspiration is so widespread. It's a bit like my music, I go from Mozart to Marley, you know what I mean?"
The rocker's Rolling Stones bandmates have been impressed with his work.
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Wood added: "Mick hasn't seen a lot of them live but the ones he has seen he's really liked."
The rocker paints in a studio a short drive from his London home and prefers to use oil paints.
He said: "My favourite process is oil painting, because oil paint stays malleable and wet for a few days, you can always step away and come back and it's like you haven't been away at all. It's lovely.
"I get so obsessed with an idea that I go in and start on a canvas and sometimes I've been there for hours and I realise I haven't even taken my jacket off."
Wood admits his young twins are also his inspiration.
His exhibit included a painting of the late Amy Winehouse, Ronnie's old friend.
On the Rehab singer, he said: "She was a great friend of mine.
"She was a mixed-up kid, and she was like, 'What am I going to do?' (I said) 'Well, just don't put vodka in your water.' She was so loving and so lovely."
In 2008, Wood started drinking again and left his wife Jo, whom he had been with for 35 years, for a teenage Russian waitress.
After this, the artist Damien Hirst, a friend of Wood's, drove him to an airport before an onward journey to rehab. Wood has had eight stints in recovery since then.
Later, he married the theatre producer Sally Humphreys, with Paul McCartney and Rod Stewart as best men at their wedding in 2012, and went on to have twin daughters, Alice and Gracie, now eight.
He has four older children, Jamie, 50, Jesse, 48, Leah, 46, and Tyrone, 41, as well as nine grandchildren.
He smoked more than 30 cigarettes a day for 50 years but quit before the twins were born, and said painting was vital for his health.
He explains. "It's like a workout. When I do the big canvases, I have to rub arnica into my hands. You know, it's like, 'ow, my joints are aching.
"I'm just enjoying life at the moment. And Sally, my wife, she's so encouraging to me. All of my kids love each other. The twins are so inspirational to me."
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