Bill Wyman on joining The Rolling Stones again: 'I've got better things to be doing now'
The Rolling Stones' former bassist Bill Wyman has said he would never rejoin the band because he's got "better things to be doing".
Wyman, who played with the The Rolling Stones between 1962 and 1993, joined the band onstage for their 50th anniversary gigs at London's O2 Arena last November (2012). When asked by The Express what he would say if Mick Jagger asked him back on a permanent basis, he replied: "I'd say 'no'…Thirty years was great but I've got better things to be doing now. That time has gone."
Wyman, who is now a restaurateur, said playing with his former bandmates for the first time in 20 years last November was "great for five minutes because that's about as long as they let me play… I thought I was going to get quite heavily involved because I was led to believe that throughout the year by them."
He added: "Keith [Richards] in particular made me think that I would be a large part of it but when it came to it they told me they only wanted me to do two songs. It was fun but I regretted not playing more. I was a bass guitarist, a rhythm guitarist, I have to be on the button from the moment Charlie [Watts] does that first drum roll… I came off just as I was warming up and getting into it."
He also revealed that he turned down the chance to play the US leg of the tour: "When they asked me to go to America for two weeks to do three shows there, I said 'For two songs? No thank you.'"
Last week, tickets to see The Rolling Stones for their forthcoming huge Hyde Park on July 6 gig sold out in three minutes, fuelling speculation that they will add another show due to popular demand. The gig will mark the first time the band have played at the venue since their now-legendary gig in 1969.
The Stones will play in London just a week after they headline the Saturday night of Glastonbury in June.
Wyman, who played with the The Rolling Stones between 1962 and 1993, joined the band onstage for their 50th anniversary gigs at London's O2 Arena last November (2012). When asked by The Express what he would say if Mick Jagger asked him back on a permanent basis, he replied: "I'd say 'no'…Thirty years was great but I've got better things to be doing now. That time has gone."
Wyman, who is now a restaurateur, said playing with his former bandmates for the first time in 20 years last November was "great for five minutes because that's about as long as they let me play… I thought I was going to get quite heavily involved because I was led to believe that throughout the year by them."
He added: "Keith [Richards] in particular made me think that I would be a large part of it but when it came to it they told me they only wanted me to do two songs. It was fun but I regretted not playing more. I was a bass guitarist, a rhythm guitarist, I have to be on the button from the moment Charlie [Watts] does that first drum roll… I came off just as I was warming up and getting into it."
He also revealed that he turned down the chance to play the US leg of the tour: "When they asked me to go to America for two weeks to do three shows there, I said 'For two songs? No thank you.'"
Last week, tickets to see The Rolling Stones for their forthcoming huge Hyde Park on July 6 gig sold out in three minutes, fuelling speculation that they will add another show due to popular demand. The gig will mark the first time the band have played at the venue since their now-legendary gig in 1969.
The Stones will play in London just a week after they headline the Saturday night of Glastonbury in June.
