The world of music is not always as we imagine it. Bill Wyman, former Rolling Stones bassist from 1962 to 1993, wanted to remind us of this in his latest interview with Classic Rock. When we think of the Stones in the 70s and 80s all we think of is parties, entertainment, money. But according to what Wyman reported, the situation was very different from this. Or at least for some of the band members.
«We had no money», said the bassist, «Klein had it all (manager of the band from 1968 to 1970, ed.)and if you needed it you had to go to him and beg to have some sent to you. We were always in the red, so it wasn't like we were partying every day, we were more worried about paying the bills. It was a nightmare.” A nightmare made worse in those early years of his career by Prime Minister Harold Wilson: «He raised taxes to 93%, absurd. So we had to leave England. We had to because we owed the government too much money with that taxation and we couldn't pay it.” And he adds: «They accused us of being multimillionaires who ran away to avoid paying, but we were not multimillionaires. When Brian Jones died (in 1969, ed.) he was around £30,000 in debt. When I bought that farmhouse in Suffork I had a thousand pounds in the bank and had to take out a mortgage hoping to continue to make some money from music to support it. We were in such bad shape.”
But the difficulties did not affect all members of the band. Indeed, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were already doing quite well: “The two of them were well off because they had royalties and copyrights, but Brian, Charlie and Ronnie, I, earned a tenth of what they earned.”
And was leaving the band in 1993 the right time? The answer is clear: «I should have done it before, in the 80s. I held out until that tour between 1989 and 1990 (the Steel Wheels / Urban Jungle Tour, ed.) and I found myself with a £200,000 hole in the bank because we weren't making any money.” And another dig at the former bandmates: «Mick and Keith were fine because they were rich by now, but me, Charli and Ronnie were penniless. Ronnie began to dedicate himself to art to find a way to earn something for his family.”