Bill Wyman has said he was left ‘a bit disappointed’ by his role in The Rolling Stones‘ 50th anniversary dates last year.
The bass player’s departure from the Stones was officially confirmed in 1992, bringing to an end his long association with the band which stretched right back to their early days as a blues covers act on the Sixties London club scene. As a result, Wyman has admitted he expected to be offered a much more significant part in the anniversary concerts when he got a call from Keith Richards in December 2011.
“In December 2011 Keith Richards called and said, ‘Come on mate, why don’t you have a jam with us?’,” he explains. “Then they asked if I’d be interested in getting involved in the band for a special occasion. I thought I would get quite heavily involved, so when they said they only wanted me to do two songs I was a bit disappointed.”
Ultimately, Wyman performed with the Stones in London, but didn’t follow them across the Atlantic for subsequent shows in New York and New Jersey.
“I only had one rehearsal and no sound-check so I just winged it,” he continued. “It was great, but I didn’t want to go to America for two songs. I think they understood. Well, Charlie Watts did.”
The Rolling Stones are expected to resume touring at some point this year, and continue to be strongly linked with a headline appearance at Glastonbury in June.