Mick Jagger gave an emotional tribute to Charlie Watts as the Rolling Stones played their first show without the drummer on Monday.
The British rockers, who are preparing to go on tour on Sunday, played a small invitation-only warm-up show in front of around 300 people at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Monday.
The concert marked the first time the band had performed with their drummer Watts, who passed away in August, and during the set, frontman Jagger gave an emotional speech in which he dedicated the show to his late bandmate.
“It’s a bit of a poignant night for us because it’s our first tour in 59 years that we’ve done without our lovely Charlie Watts,” Jagger said, according to a video from the show posted on his Twitter page. “We all miss Charlie so much. We miss him as a band, we miss him as friends – on and off the stage – and we’ve got so many memories of Charlie, and I’m sure some of you that have seen us before have got memories of Charlie as well. And I hope you will remember him like we do. So we’d like to dedicate this show to Charlie.”
He grabbed a bottle of alcohol and had a “drink to Charlie” as the crowd cheered. Guitarist Ronnie Wood then took the microphone and added, “Charlie, we’re praying for you and playing for you.”
Jagger, Wood and Keith Richards were joined onstage by Steve Jordan, who was drafted in to replace Watts on the band’s upcoming tour so the drummer could recover from a medical procedure. He passed away on 24 August at the age of 80.
The No Filter tour resumes in St. Louis, Missouri on Sunday.
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