On Monday night, the Rolling Stones played their first-ever show without their legendary drummer Charlie Watts — a private event for an audience of 300 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, put on by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Naturally, they took a moment to pay tribute to their late bandmate, who passed away at the age of 80 after an undisclosed illness back in August.
“It’s a bit of a poignant night for us,” Mick Jagger told the crowd. “Because this is our first tour in 59 years that we’ve done without our lovely Charlie Watts. We all miss Charlie so much. We miss him as a band. We miss him as friends, on and off the stage. We’ve got so many memories of Charlie. I’m sure some of you that have seen us before have got memories of Charlie as well. And I hope you’ll remember him like we do. So we’d like to dedicate this show to Charlie.”
After Jagger toasted to Watts, Ronnie Wood grabbed the mic and added, “Charlie, we’re praying for you man. And playing for you.”
During the show, the Stones reportedly debuted a few new additions to their live setlist, including their cover of the Chi-Lites’ 1971 track “Troubles-a-Comin’” and their pandemic song “Living in a Ghost Town.” They also performed “19th Nervous Breakdown” live for the first time since 2005.
The band is slated to kick off its No Filter Tour on Sept. 26 in St. Louis at the Dome at America’s Center, with Steve Jordan replacing Watts on drums. You can watch Jagger and Wood pay tribute to Watts below.
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