Rolling Stones pay video tribute to late drummer

The iconic rock band the Rolling Stones has released a tribute video to honor its late drummer Charlie Watts, who died Tuesday at age 80 of undisclosed causes.

The two-minute video, released on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group's social media Friday, is a montage of stills and video spotlighting the acclaimed percussionist, set to "If You Can't Rock Me" from the 1974 album "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll." About 40 seconds in, Watts recalls in an archival interview that in 1963, the gig was only supposed to last a year: "So when the Stones asked me to join, they talked in terms of a band — a commitment, in other words. 'Oh, this will go on a year, and then next year fold up.' "

Elsewhere, amid concert footage, frontman Mick Jagger alludes to the London-born Watts' childhood neighborhood, introducing his bandmate as "The Wembley Whammer, Mr. Charlie Watts!" In slow-motion video, the normally reserved Watts tosses a drumstick into the audience for some lucky fan to have as a keepsake.

The tribute video concludes with a somber still photo of Watts' drum set, on which hangs a mom-and-pop store sign reading, "Closed / Please Come Again," and set to 3 o'clock.

On Saturday Jagger, 78, and guitarist Keith Richards, 77, each additionally posted the video, with Richards writing, "Charlie Watts, forever in our heart!" While fellow guitarist Ron Wood, 74, did not, he days earlier had posted a recent casual photo of himself and Watts standing together and smiling. "I love you my fellow Gemini ~ I will dearly miss you ~ you are the best," he wrote.

Watts' representative said Tuesday in an online statement, "It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Charlie Watts. He passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family. 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. We kindly request that the privacy of his family, band members and close friends is respected at this difficult time."

The Rolling Stones' planned No Filter U.S. tour remains as scheduled from Sept. 26 to Nov. 20. It already was set without Watts, whom a band representative said in an Aug. 4 statement "has had a procedure which was completely successful, but his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation."

Watts said in a concurrent statement, "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," adding that after the tour already had been postponed from 2020, "I really do not want the many RS fans who have been holding tickets for this tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation. I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me."

Jordan, the longtime drummer for Richards' side band, the X-Pensive Winos, has played on albums for such stars as Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Stevie Nicks, and on the Stones' own 1986 "Dirty Work" when Watts was struggling with substance abuse. Jordan said in a statement he was honored "to be Charlie's understudy."

The schedule originally was set for 13 dates until the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, held in mid-October, was canceled earlier this month due to surging COVID-19 cases in Louisiana. The tour's closest stop to the metropolitan area is Pittsburgh on Oct. 4.

In 2014, the band paused its 14 on Fire tour from March to late May following the suicide of Jagger's fashion-designer girlfriend, L'Wren Scott.