Legendary bassist for The Rolling Stones Bill Wyman has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
According to a spokesperson “he is undergoing treatment and is expected to make a full recovery as it was caught in the early stages.”
Bassist with The Rolling Stones between 1962 and 1993, Wyman played on every album released in that fruitful period and is credited for writing the guitar riff for Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
“I was just messing about at the piano and started doing this riff, da-daw, da-da-daw, da-da-daw, then Brian played a bit of guitar and Charlie was doing a rhythm,” Wyman wrote of the hit in his autobiography. “Mick and Keith came in and said, ‘Hey, that sounded really good, what is it?’”
The public may have unkindly branded Wyman the “boring one” in the Stones, but by all accounts he had a great rapport with the band and was to become their unofficial archivist, collecting photos and memorabilia that traced the Stones’s epic history. His intricate bass playing underpinned many of the great Stones tracks, including Paint It Black and Gimme Shelter.
After the Stones years, Wyman spent his career recording and touring with his own band, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings. He reunited with the Rolling Stones for their 50th anniversary shows in London in 2012.
In a statement Wyman’s family has “asked for their privacy at this time.”
Watch: Jumpin’ Jack Flash － The Rolling Stones
