Charlie Watts

He married Shirley Ann Shepherd on October 14, 1964. He has always remained a doting husband.

Their only daughter Serafina was born in 1968.

Sometime in the 1980s, he and his wife set up Haldson Arabians, a stud farm in Dolton village in west Devon where the couple breed and raise horses.

He was born on June 2, 1941, at the ‘University College Hospital’, London, to Charles Richard Watts and Lillian Charlotte (née Eaves). His father served the ‘London Midland & Scottish Railway’ as a lorry driver.

He and his sister Linda were brought up in Kingsbury.

At the age of ten years he came across jazz and blues music and his early influences include John Coltrane and Miles Davis. By thirteen years of age, he became more interested in drumming and would emulate his jazz drumming heroes by playing a banjo that he had converted into a snare drum.

Watts and one of his childhood neighbours cum friend Dave Green, who became a jazz bass player and remains his friend till date, would listen to music together that included 78 RPM records of American jazz musicians like Charlie Parker and Jelly Roll Morton.

In 1952 he joined the ‘Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School’, where he studied till 1956. During his school days he remained a sports enthusiast including football and cricket and also displayed his flair for art.

He started his musical career along with his friend Dave Green in around 1958-59 and played in ‘Jo Jones All Stars’, a jazz band, in Middlesex.

In 1960 he joined ‘Charlie Daniels Studios’, an advertising company, as a graphic designer. During this time he became associated with a few local bands that saw him occasionally perform as drummer in various clubs and coffee shops in London.

In 1961, he penned down a children’s book, ‘Ode to a High-Flying Bird’, a tribute to the jazz legend Charlie Parker, which was later published in 1965. His illustrations and writings in the book reflect his love for art, literature and jazz.

While working as a graphic designer, he accepted the proposal of Alexis Korner and joined the latter’s band ‘Blues Incorporated’ in early 1962. Later he worked with advertising firm of Charles, Hobson and Grey while playing regularly as a drummer with ‘Blues Incorporated’.

Brian Jones, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Ian "Stu" Stewart would often visit the rhythm and blues clubs in London and during one such occasion in mid-1962 they met Watts. They were all members of the newly established English rock band, ‘Rolling Stones’.

As of year 2012, the net worth of Charlie Watts is believed to be US$160 million.