Ronnie Wood
On 01/06/1947: Ronnie Wood was born. He started his professional music career in 1964 when he joined the Birds as a guitarist. The Birds were a popular act and Ronnie wrote a lot of their songs.In 1967 The Birds disbanded. He joined Santa Barbera Machine Head briefly and then joined the Jeff Beck Group as a bassist. The group also featured Rod Stewart on vocals. Whilst there he was a part of the albums "Truth" and "Beck-Ola".
In 1969 Steve Marriott left the Small Faces. Wood and Stewart started to working with the remaining members of the group. They made a few recordings as "Quiet Melon", along with Ronnie's brother Art. After finishing a US tour with the Jeff Beck Group they both left to join the Small Faces, under the new name of The Faces. They also recorded that year "An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down", Stewart's debut solo album.
The Faces released four studio albums. Wood co-wrote many of the songs and also contributed bass, harmonica and backing vocals in addition to guitar. Wood and Stewart would also continue to collaborate on Stewart's solo albums.
In 1972 he cowrote the soundtrack to the film Mahoney's Last Stand with Ronnie Lane.
In 1973 he performed at Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert and he also asked Mick Taylor to help him record his first solo album. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger would also work on the album. Wood having collaborated on Mick Jagger's "It's Only Rock'n Roll (But I Like It)" in 1973 as well.
In 1974 Taylor left the Rolling Stones. Ronnie participated in the recording of the Stones album "Black and Blue" and toured with them in 1975. The Faces then disbanded later that year and Ronnie became a full member of the Rolling Stones. He is a member of the band to this day, cowriting and recording on many albums and touring. Rolling Stones albums that feature him include: "Black and Blue", "Love You Live", "Some Girls", "Emotional Rescue", "Sucking in the Seventies", "Tattoo You", "Still Life", "Undercover", "Dirty Work", "Steel Wheels", "Flashpoint", "Voodoo Lounge", "Stripped", "Bridges To Babylon", "No Security", "Forty Licks", "Live Licks", "A Bigger Bang", "Shine a Light" and "GRRR!".
In addition, he has released 7 solo albums in total. Touring as the Ronnie Wood Band alongside the Rolling Stones. He has also collaborated and performed with a number of artists including: Prince, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Aretha Franklin, Bo Diddley, Beverley Knight, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pearl Jam and One Direction. He is an award winning radio presenter on Absolute Radio.
In 2009 Wood was given an "Outstanding Contribution" award at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour.