Photo: G. Waiditschka / IN THE FOCUS
Born on June 2, 1941 in London, Charlie Watts, the drummer of the Rolling Stones, died yesterday at the age of 80 in a hospital in London in the presence of his family.
Watts discovered his love for jazz and blues early on, in 1963 he joined the Rolling Stones, with whom he achieved world fame. After Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Watts was the longest-serving member of the band and was considered by many to be the greatest drummer of his generation. Actually, the band wanted to continue their US tour, which was interrupted due to the corona pandemic, from September, unfortunately this will now happen without Charlie Watts …
But friends of the Arabian horse know him and his wife Shirley as horse breeders, especially lovers of the purebred Arabians from the Polish state studs. The names in the broodmare band read like the “Who’s Who” of Polish Arabian breeding and the Watts bought horses nearly every year for a six-figure amount at the auction in Janow Podlaski – Emmona, Egna, Ekspulsja, Emantia, Alhambra, Altamira, Andromeda, Biruta, and Cenoza are (or have been) at Halsdon Arabians in Devon, to name just a few. With this stud, Shirley and Charlie Watts had created a piece of paradise on earth.
Both were welcome guests at shows, at the Polish auctions and at private stud presentations, and one had the impression that Charlie Watts was enjoying being himself in these circles and not the famous “Rolling Stones drummer”.
In 2004 he underwent successful cancer treatment as he was diagnosed with larynx cancer. On August 5, 2021, it was reported that he had to be hospitalized for a medical procedure involving the heart, where he died on August 24. Our condolences go to his wife Shirley, his daughter Seraphine and granddaughter Charlotte, as well as all band members and friends.
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