The great Keith Richards is eighty, yes he is. This is a tribute from memory and my heart to one of the greatest musicians in history, no Google searches here.

There have been 800, or 8000 jokes made about Keith over time. There have been birthday memes for years listing all the music stars gone, but “I’m still here” with a crusty photo of his weathered face.

I bought the Stones Some Girls in high school and really liked it. Of course, I knew all the singles from AM radio before that. Oh yes, you may not know he was in this little band called THE Rolling Stones who accurately call themselves “The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band.” The Beatles lasted a decade. The Stones are starting their seventh decade and will sell out every stadium they play anywhere in the world next year.

In 1980 my boss, Jim Dorton, had the Glamour Pool Place II staff to his home to watch a Rolling Stones’ pay-per-view; one of the first. Near the end of the show during Satisfaction, an overzealous fan climbed on stage during a balloon drop. Keith saw him, whipped off his Telecaster, and clubbed the guy more than once. Security didn’t save the band from that man, they saved that man from Keith. It’s worth 20 seconds or so on YouTube.

When you watch the Stones live, he does something I haven’t seen musicians do sans the leader singer Mick Jagger runs around so much Red Bull was culled from his blood and made into a drink for you people. Drummers and keyboardists are fixed in one place due to their instruments, but generally, guitar players stay near their mic stand. Not Keith, he wanders around the stage willy-nilly, sometimes for the fans, but he seems to be enjoying it and interacts with his bandmates.

When you hear a Rolling Stones song, the best ones begin with a Keith power-driven riff that opens many songs. Think of the ones you like best starting off. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him the fourth greatest guitar player of all time. More recent lists have demoted him, no comment. I think #4.

Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow is somewhat based on Keith, and he even appeared as the character’s father in At the World’s End and On Stranger Tides.

When the Rolling Stones first made it big and came to the United States, they came to Chicago and paid tribute to their Blues gods like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker and many others. It is a joy to see how the young white British boys reverently salute the older black men, introducing them and their music to a whole new audience of fans. The world renown rock starts act like children in their presence of their musical heroes.

Richards loved Chuck Berry, but the two had a tumultuous relationship. Berry once punched Richards backstage after he’d seen him pick up and strum one of Berry’s guitars. In the 1987 documentary Hail Hail Rock and Roll featuring Berry, Keith still organized the band backing the tempestuous father of rock and roll. There has been potential violence around other celebrities too. In 1989, Richards was so angry at a then-real estate developer named Donald Trump he threatened to pull out a knife when Trump promoted his name larger than the bands at a 1989 show in Atlantic City.

Keith’s earlier lifestyle is well known for his excesses, but for decades he’s dialed back, quitting smoking a decade ago and drinks much less alcohol. Besides having the constitution of no ordinary mortal, he is human, and that’s why he’s still here. Photos of him strumming a guitar in a home library make me want to discuss books with him almost as much as music.

In 2011, I purchased and read his memoir Life, when the inside cover stating “Believe it or not, I haven’t forgotten any of it.” At 547 pages it is a doorstop, but a great read. I picked it up again recently at a a used bookstore and plan to read it again, joyfully. He tells his stories as well as his plays guitar.

During my lifetime, the word “authentic” has developed a new meaning and is often overused and misused. While I was writing this, CBS broadcast Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday tribute. At the end of the show, Keith appeared and he and Willie sang We Had It All and Live Forever. I hope both men do. If Willie Nelson and Keith Richards aren’t authentic in their genres, who the hell is?

Happy Birthday Keith. I know, it’s only rock and roll but I like it, and appreciate you sir. Mick Jagger, Elton John, and Paul McCartney have all been knighted in Great Britain. Please no Sir Keith Richards, it doesn’t suit him.