Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts dies at 80, weeks after revealing he had unspecified medical procedure

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, the stylish sticksman known as the steady engine of the legendary British band for half a century, has died at age 80.

“It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Charlie Watts,” his spokesman said in a Tuesday statement shared on social media.

Watts, whose virtuoso stylings ranged from jazz to hard-driving rock 'n' roll, “passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family,” the spokesperson, Bernard Doherty, said.

“Charlie was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and also as a member of The Rolling Stones one of the greatest drummers of his generation,” Doherty said.

Watts announced earlier this month he would not be able to join the Stones’ pandemic-postponed No Filter tour in 2021 because an undefined medical procedure led to a longer-than-expected recovery.

“For once my timing has been a little off. I am working hard to get fully fit, but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while,” Watts said in a statement.

Watts said he didn’t want to disappoint fans with another cancellation, so he asked his “great friend” Steve Jordan, 64, to stand in for him.

“It is an absolute honor and a privilege to be Charlie’s understudy,” Jordan, a longtime member of Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards’ group the X-Pensive Winos, said at the time.

“We really look forward to welcoming Charlie back as soon as he is fully recovered. Thank you to our friend Steve Jordan for stepping in, so we can still play all the shows for you this fall,” Stones singer Mick Jagger said in a Twitter post on Aug. 5.

Known for his sharply tailored suits and bemused smile, Watts became the backbone of the Stones rhythm section when he joined forces with Jagger, Richards, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart and Bill Wyman in 1963.

He described the group’s genesis as “white blokes from England playing Black American music,” but they went on to create their own instantly recognizable classics beloved by millions.

Condolences for Watts’ family poured in Tuesday, with Beatles star Paul McCartney leading the way.

“So sad to hear about Charlie Watts,” McCartney said in a video posted on social media, calling Watts a “beautiful man.”

“Lots of love to his family, his wife and kids and his extended family, and condolences to The Stones. It’s a huge blow to them because Charlie was a rock, and a fantastic drummer. Steady as a rock,” McCartney said.

“God bless Charlie Watts we’re going to miss you man peace and love to the family,” Beatles drummer Ringo Starr said.

Elton John tweeted, “A very sad day. Charlie Watts was the ultimate drummer. The most stylish of men, and such brilliant company.”

And fellow rocker Joan Jett tweeted, “Charlie Watts was the most elegant and dignified drummer in rock 'n' roll. He played exactly what was needed — no more — no less. He is one of a kind.”

Born to a working-class family in 1941, Watts spent the early part of his childhood in a London district destroyed by German bombs in World War II.

He received his first drum kit as a Christmas gift from his parents in 1955 and played along with the jazz records he collected, Wyman wrote in his 2002 book “Rolling With The Stones.”

“Any sort of jazz interested me, so I taught myself by listening to other people’s records and watching drummers,” Watts said in the book.

He showed an affinity for art in school and appeared destined for a career in graphic design when he started playing drums in local clubs. He ultimately agreed to join The Stones after Jones, the band’s leader at the time, successfully “badgered” him to leave his semipro spot in the group Blues Incorporated, according to Wyman’s book.

Watts wasn’t a fan of the fame that followed, shying away from flashy displays on his stage riser at concerts and telling The Guardian he found it nerve-racking when screaming fans chased him in public.

He focused on the music instead, lending his impeccable timing to everything from the anthemic concert staple “Brown Sugar” to the highly instrumental, jazz-inspired “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.”

Richards called Watts “the key” to the band’s steadfast success, saying that when he sometimes tried to rattle Watts by suddenly changing the beat of a song onstage, Watts was unflappable and simply changed it back.

Watts, who was ranked No. 12 on Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time” list in 2016, maintained his reputation as the calmest and coolest Stones member by finding contentment with his private life.

He married his longtime wife Shirley Ann Shepherd in 1964 after meeting her before he was catapulted into the spotlight. They shared a daughter, Seraphina, and a love of tending horses on their country estate in Devon, England.

Though he successfully navigated the pitfalls and hard-partying ways of rock ‘n’ roll celebrity for most of his life, he privately struggled with a heroin addiction in the mid-1980s that he overcame with the help of Shepherd.

“I was warring with myself at that time,” he told Rolling Stone in a 1997 cover story.