Bobby Keys, the long-time saxophonist for The Rolling Stones, passed away this morning in Franklin, Tennessee, according to the Nashville Scene. He was 70.
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It had been reported in October that Keys was forced to take a medical leave from the recent Rolling Stones tour due to illness. The musician had reportedly been battling cirrhosis of the liver.
A native of Lubbock, Texas, Keys got his start playing as a teenager in West Texas, where he hung out with Buddy Holly. During his career, he played with so many of rock and roll’s greats, including John Lennon, Dion, Chuck Berry, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
His signature lick on the sax was “Brown Sugar” by the Stones. He once told a journalist he never tired of playing it. His memoir Every Night’s A Saturday Night was published in 2012.
Keys was a larger-than-life persona and could spin a tale like no other. Speaking of his time spent with the Stones in Nellcote, France, recording Exile on Main Street, he said, “We were shitting in tall cotton and farting in satin sheets.”
During his time in Nashville, Keys did session work and performed with a variety of local bands. To hang with him at the bar or at a party was to hear first hand some of the best and wildest stories in rock and roll history. Rest in peace, Bobby.
The Guardian has compiled a list of five great Bobby Keys performances which you can check out here.
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