Charlie Watts will likely sit out the upcoming return of the Rolling Stones’ No Filter US stadium tour this fall. A spokesman for the drummer has confirmed that he will probably be busy recuperating from a successful procedure; Steve Jordan will fill in for him.

“Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation,” the spokesman explains. “With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming.”

“For once my timing has been a little off,” Watts adds. “I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while. After all the fans’ suffering caused by Covid I really do not want the many RS fans who have been holding tickets for this Tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation. I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me.”

“It is an absolute honour and a privilege to be Charlie’s understudy and I am looking forward to rehearsing with Mick, Keith and Ronnie,” Jordan says. “No-one will be happier than me to give up my seat on the drum-riser as soon as Charlie tells me he is good to go.”