Keith Richards' health forces the Rolling Stones to postpone their 2026 tour

The Rolling Stones will not be touring next year, as they had initially planned, and the reason is that Keith Richards, ... Mick Jagger's loyal sidekick, is not ready to keep up with the pace of an international tour.

Initially, the band had considered touring in 2026 with a series of massive concerts similar to those they held last year on the Hackney Diamonds Tour, but given Richards' refusal, the band did not even issue a statement.

The guitarist, who turns 82 this Thursday, reportedly told his Satanic Majesties that he could not commit and was not keen on undertaking a large stadium tour for more than four months. This was reported by sources close to the British musician to the magazine 'Variety', which would have canceled its intentions to tour the UK and Europe.

Behind Richards' refusal might be the arthritis that the musician made public in 2023 during an interview with the BBC. "I have no pain, it's a kind of benign version," the guitarist assured at the time, acknowledging that he had slowed down a bit, though he mainly attributed it to age.

In the report, 'Variety' recalls that Richards took the stage just a few weeks ago at a club in Soho, New York, where he delivered a brief performance of three songs and appeared in good form. However, stepping up to perform sporadically is one thing and chaining weeks of concerts in different countries is quite another.

When Richards made his illness public, he also mentioned that arthritis had revealed something interesting to him. "When I think 'I can no longer do that like before,' the guitar shows me there's another way to do it. A finger moves to a different space and a completely new door opens," he noted.

With Mick Jagger also at 82 years old and Ronnie Wood about to turn 80, one wonders if the big tour of 2024 could have been the band's last.