Bill Wyman: ‘The Stones never forgave me for leaving’

Wyman reunited on stage with the Stones in 2012
Wyman reunited on stage with the Stones in 2012
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It’s the week of release for the deluxe edition of Sticky Fingers, the album that in 1971 transformed the Rolling Stones from rock’n’roll outlaws into world-conquering stadium rockers. In his diner-style restaurant of the same name in Kensington, southwest London, Bill Wyman — bassist for the Stones from 1962 to 1993, part-time archaeologist and photographer, author, metal detector enthusiast, leader of R&B band the Rhythm Kings and recently reinvigorated solo artist with a new album Back to Basics — is recalling his short-lived, ill-fated reunion with the Stones for two concerts at the O2 arena in London in 2012.

“I jammed with Charlie [Watts], Keith [Richards] and Ronnie [Wood] in a studio in Battersea nine months before the gig. Mick came on the third