Ronnie Wood has spoken to NME about his new Jimi Hendrix exhibition, showcasing a collection of his paintings and sketches of the rock legend, while teasing what the future holds for The Rolling Stones.
Titled Ronnie Wood: The Jimi Hendrix Portraits, the exhibition is open now at the Handel Hendrix House museum – Hendrix’s former apartment on Brook Street, Mayfair, which is next door to the home where German-British composer George Frideric Handel resided, two centuries earlier.
Alongside previously unveiled paintings and sketches of Hendrix created by Wood, the collection will also feature two new, unseen original portraits made by the Rolling Stones guitarist.
As well as being a longtime admirer of Hendrix, Wood was a friend of the legendary musician, having met him when he first moved to London in 1966. At the time, Wood was playing bass for The Jeff Beck Group – and went on to briefly share a house with Hendrix in Holland Park.
“I got to know him when he was a name that was already on people’s lips,” Wood told NME of how he became close with the ‘60s icon. “People like Eric Clapton would say, ‘Have you seen this new phenomenon?’ And with the people that were in the know back in the ’60s, the word would pass around very quickly that, ‘OK, you’ve got to see this new boy in town’.”
He continued: “I was there in The Speakeasy Club [in Soho] when he played, and he sat in my booth, and that’s when I first got to know him properly. Straightaway, he opened up to me for some strange reason.”
Check out the full interview below, where Wood also opened up about the “quiet” side of Hendrix that people rarely know about, expressed his eagerness to head out on the road with the Stones again – despite Keith Richards’ reluctance – and told us where things stand with a long-rumoured Faces reunion.
NME: Hi, Ronnie. Why was now the right time to unveil these artworks and to celebrate Jimi Hendrix in this way?
“I got a nice invitation from the people that run the 25 Brook Street who are preserving Jimi and his famous neighbour, Handel… Imagine having a neighbour like Handel!
“Jimi came along and revolutionised the whole way people played guitar, so when they asked me to exhibit my renditions of Jimi, I was very honoured. I had just done a few [artworks] before I even knew that I was going to have an exhibit here, but now I’ve topped up the collection with a few new images.”
As someone who knew and lived with Jimi before he became this legendary figure, is there anything about him that people still don’t know about him?
“Probably that he was a very personalised figure and almost a recluse in his private life. He was very shy, and he didn’t like the way he sang either. I remember he was worried about his voice. I said to him, ‘I don’t think you should worry about that, Jimi… With the way you play guitar, it makes up for it’. I told him to stop worrying about his singing voice because it complemented the way he played.”
With these artworks, you have some vibrant pieces that capture his intensity on stage, but also some sketches that seem to capture that quieter personal side…
“Yeah, Jimi’s face was very expressive and, in a way, it’s very hard to paint. I found that sometimes it works for me, and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes I’d get the eyes wrong or something. But the general effect is there, and the general essence of Jimi and the spirit… It comes across.”
Are there any more paintings that you’re wanting to unveil, whether it’s of Jimi Hendrix, or some other artists you admire?
“I have a massive exhibit in a museum south of Stuttgart in a little village called Tübingen in Germany. That’s coming in November, and it kicks off for a six-month exhibition of over 100 of my original paintings, 150 prints, and sculptures. I’ve got the entire museum!”
Whether it’s with the paintings, your ongoing solo tour, or the latest album with the Stones, ‘Foreign Tongues’, it’s clear you’re thriving creatively. Tell me, is a Stones UK tour still off the cards?
“I’m totally immersed in my Ammo band at the moment, which is setting venues alight and blowing the roof off places. I am immersed in that, but when the Stones give me the call-up papers, I’ll be back. But in the meantime, I have to keep playing.
“When my compadres say, ‘Let’s go’, I’ll be ready. I’ve got no plans yet though, except my plans to play South America with the Ammo band next. I’ve just been across Europe with them, and now I’m getting ready for that.”
So you haven’t heard any little murmurs of any plans for the Stones to hit the stage…
“No. I know Mick [Jagger, frontman] is busting to go, and Keith is not busting to go. And you’ve got to have everybody’s enthusiasm to do it.”
Even if it isn’t a full-blown tour, do you reckon there could be a chance of a slot at Glastonbury 2027?
“I would play that in the drop of a hat, but everybody doesn’t think like that. I think we should do a gig, just like you do. And I think we should do a tour, but it’s easier said than done.”
How have you found the response to ‘Foreign Tongues’?
“The people that have heard the album are very happy, but what it needs next is a live presentation. Mick and I did a little presentation a month or so ago, where we played a song off the album and we a few others. That was good fun, but we need to be the full unit again…”
When it comes to that long-rumoured Faces reunion, now that Rod Stewart has announced his final tour, does that mean the prospect is off the table for now?
“Yeah. While I’m touring with my band and while Rod is touring with his band, we’ll let those things go on their run, but then we’ll carry on. We have a lot of good Faces stuff in the bag…”
The Ronnie Wood: The Jimi Hendrix Portraits exhibition is open now at the Handel Hendrix House museum until April 11, 2027. Visit here for tickets and more information.
