ROLLING STONES KEEP ON ROCKING WORLD

The Rolling Stones showed the other night why, despite their advancing years they are still the greatest rock band in the world.The band put on a blistering performance at London's O2 arena that had fans - young, old and very old - out of their seats and rocking from the very first power chord.The show - the first of three hometown concerts - was the culmination of the band's two-year 'A Bigger Bang' tour.Being back in London was not lost on the band - who have a combined age of 253 - who started their life playing the pubs and clubs of Richmond, south-west London.Frontman Sir Mick Jagger, 64, told the crowd: "It's taken us 40 years to get from Twickenham to Greenwich!"Opening with 'Start Up' the band had the thousands in attendance on their feet, before launching into a handful of new numbers, including 'Rough Justice' and 'You Got Me Rocking'.At one point, the band paid homage to late soul legend James Brown performing a cover of his song 'I Go Crazy'.Introducing the track, Mick said: "We'd like to pay tribute to a man who is an inspiration to us all, Mr. James Brown."During the middle of the set, guitarist Keith Richards, 63, took over vocal duties from Mick and showed his rebellious streak lives on by blatantly flaunting the new UK smoking ban during 'Hold On'.Keith was not the only Stone to ignore the ban. Fellow guitarist Ronnie Wood puffed away throughout the show.The Stones then gave their fans the hits they came to hear, kicking off with a blistering rendition of 'It's Only Rock And Roll', which was released in 1974.Part of their success in large venues is their ability to make everyone present feel close to the band's heat energy and magic.Jagger, in particular, runs all over the stage to its furthest corners so he can engage with the crowd.Their engagement was spectacularly displayed when the concert stage - with the band prancing on it - cut a swathe through the crowd slowly moving through it like a ship and ending up in the middle of the arena.The band, now facing the back of the arena, then launched into 'Satisfaction' quickly followed by 'Honky Tonk Women'.They finished with an incredible version of 'Sympathy For The Devil', 'Paint It Black' and 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' before closing with 'Brown Sugar'.While the band may not have found the elixir of youth they have certainly discovered how the magic of rock can keep everyone young.

ICON KEITH RICHARDS WILL LIVE 150 YEARS

Keith Richards believes he will live to 150.The 63-year-old Rolling Stones rocker says death is a "long way off" after amazed doctors told him his heart, liver and kidneys were "all perfect", despite his legendary rock 'n' roll lifestyle. He told Mojo magazine: "I'm looking to be a good 150 before I think about croaking. It's a long way off."Hey, when I'm gone, I'm done. Everybody else can decide what to do with me. My folks know what's what."I've never even thought about it. I mean I don't want to be paraded down Whitehall on a f***ing carriage. I don't want nothing."The guitarist also revealed he serenaded his beloved 91-year-old mother Doris in her final days before she lost her battle to cancer in April this year. He said: "I sat on the end of her bed for two days before she kicked the bucket. I brought round a guitar and sat there and played to her."Keith also cleared up the confusion surrounding his claim he snorted his dad's ashes with cocaine. He added: "The cocaine bit was rubbish. I said I chopped him up like cocaine, not with."What I found out is that ingesting your ancestors is a very respectable way of, you know, he went down a treat."The musician, whose father Bert passed away in 2002, added: "Seen me mom off. Snorted my dad. I'm an orphan."

KEITH RICHARDS TO MAKE MILLIONS OFF BIO

Keith Richards is set to make over $7 million from his autobiography.The Rolling Stones rocker has sparked a bidding war for his memoirs and he is now set to receive a staggering $7.3 million in advance. Publishers Harper Collins and Little Brown are the two favourites for the tome.The 63-year-old guitarist, his agent Ed Victor and his manager for three decades, Jane Rose, will now have to choose a 'winner' between them. As the publishers have matched each other on the price, the decision will be made on who can offer the best marketing plan and the editor they can offer the rocker and collaborating writer James Fox. A source said: "Price is no longer an issue."Whatever the outcome Richards is certain to be happy, as he stated before the bidding war he wanted to surpass the $5 million advance rival guitarist Eric Clapton received for his book, due out this October. Hell raiser Richards was paid $1.6 million for his diaries in the 80s by publisher Bantam, however, he returned the money saying he couldn't remember enough to fill a book.

KATE MOSS MOVES IN WITH RONNIE WOOD

Cocaine Kate Moss

Kate Moss has moved in with Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood to help her get over her split from Pete Doherty. The 33-year-old supermodel - who dumped the Babyshambles frontman earlier this month - is reportedly enjoying some "quiet time" with the rocker, a recovering alcoholic, and his wife Jo at their Surrey mansion in Kingston.A source told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "Ronnie and Kate have a history of partying together so it's unusual that they are having some quiet time."Kate is washing her hair of Pete, and Ronnie and his wife Jo have been taking her mind off things. He's on the wagon and that is great for her."Kate and Ronnie became notorious for their wild nights out.In 2004, the 60-year-old guitarist decided to check into The Priory rehab centre following a drunken episode at a restaurant with the supermodel and Jo.Kate is living with Ronnie - who once confessed to consuming eight pints of Guinness, two bottles of vodka and a bottle of Sambuca every day - while she waits to move into a new £7.2 million property in London's exclusive St John's Wood area.The catwalk queen - who has a four-year-old daughter, Lila Grace, from a previous relationship - threw Pete out of her home before changing the locks, after the musician allegedly cheated on her with South African model Lindi Hingston.

ROLLING STONE NOT ROLLING IN MONEY

Ronnie Wood is selling paintings

Ronnie Wood was forced to borrow £250,000 U.S. ($500,000.) from his Rolling Stones band mates.The guitarist had blown so much of his fortune after years of extravagant spending and failed business ventures that he had to ask Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for the cash.The pair lent Ronnie the money with the provision he paid it back with his earnings from future tour dates.The 60-year-old rocker agreed to the conditions of the loan in 2004, ahead of the band's 2005 'Big Bang Tour'. A source told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "The 'Big Bang Tour' came just in time for him. He'd had to borrow a serious chunk of cash from Mick and Keith to see him through."Ronnie - who has been a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975 - lost around £8 million (U.S. 16 million) when he founded London's exclusive Harrington Club in 2000. Despite the hype surrounding the venue, the club proved a huge financial flop and went bust within three years. Ronnie faced financial ruin and was forced to re-mortgage his home. He later said of the disaster: "I'd never have recovered if I hadn't got out."Ronnie's finances have now recovered thanks to the constant demand for his paintings, a horse racing stable and earnings from the band's tours.

ROLLING STONES DENY RETIREMENT COMING

Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

British rock legend KEITH RICHARDS has dismissed reports his band THE ROLLING STONES are near retirement, insisting they will continue rocking the stage for many more years to come.Richards will today headline the Isle of Wight Festival in England with the legendary band, and is adamant the Brown Sugar stars - who are all in their 60s - will keep playing live shows for at least the next 12 months.The 63-year-old says, "We’re digging what we’re doing. After 40 years, there are absolutely no murmurings of mutiny and I think we will continue next year as well."People have been saying we’re going to retire for 30 years now. But we’re simply having a hell of a lot of fun up on stage!"

STONES RONNIE WOOD'S GYPSY CARAVAN

Icon 'Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood

Ronnie Wood has been given a Romany gypsy caravan for his 60th birthday.Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie woke up to find the $80,000 traditional painted caravan parked in his drive, left there as a surprise from his wife Jo. A source told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "Ronnie rolled out of the house in the morning and burst out laughing when he saw it. He's delighted with the caravan."He has Romany gypsy roots and always said he wanted one."The ageing rocker joked he might even take the caravan on tour this summer.The source added: "The Stones are playing the Isle of Wight Festival in the summer so he'll have a perfect chance to give it a good road test."Ronnie, who turns 60 on June 1, was born to Romany gypsy parents and spent some of his childhood living on tugboats.Former model Jo married Ronnie in 1985. The couple have two children together - Leah and Tyrone - and both have one child from previous relationships.

MICK JAGGER TRIED TO ENLARGE PENIS

Mick Jagger reportedly tried to enlarge his penis by letting bees sting it.The Rolling Stones front man, whose "small penis" was mocked by a former lover, covered his manhood in bees in the hope that their stings would cause it to swell. Film director Julien Temple, revealed how the ageing rocker attempted to use the ancient Amazonian marriage ritual while filming scenes for 1982 movie 'Fitzcarraldo'. Julien, 53, told Radio 4's 'Film Program : "It involved putting bamboo over the male member and filling it with stinger bees so the member attained the size of the bamboo."Mick spent months in the jungle in Peru. He was going mad out there I think."British director Julien was with The Rolling Stones in Mexico making their 'Undercover of the Night' video.Former US supermodel Janice Dickinson, 52, humiliated Mick when she told TV chat show host Jonathan Ross "Mick has a very small penis".The singer, whose band's hits include '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' and 'Brown Sugar', has fathered seven children with four different women. Mick is currently in a relationship with US fashion stylist L'Wren Scott.

STONES KEITH RICHARDS MOTHER DIES

Rolling Stones Keith Richards

Keith Richards' mother has died. Doris Richards peacefully passed away on Saturday night aged 91 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith, 63, had been keeping a bedside vigil at the clinic in London's Harley Street where she was treated before her death.The band's spokesman Bernard Doherty said: "Doris Richards, aged 91, mother of Rolling Stone Keith Richards, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Saturday 21 April 2007."Family and friends request that their privacy is respected at this time."Doris separated from Keith's father Bert - who passed away in 2002 aged 84 -in 1962. Before her death she had been living with the rocker's stepfather William in Kent. Doris was responsible for buying her son his first guitar on his 15th birthday, setting him on the path to rock 'n' roll success. Her father, Gus Dupree, toured the UK as a jazz musician and gave grandson Keith his earliest guitar lessons. Earlier this month, Keith caused outrage after claiming he had snorted his dead dad's ashes mixed in with a line of cocaine. He said: "I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared, he didn't give a s**t."The wild musician, who is famed for his drug use, has since retracted the statement insisting he only meant it as a joke.

STONED MICK JAGGER VISITED BY ALIEN'S

Sir Mick Jagger has been visited by aliens.Michael C. Luckman - author of 'Alien Rock: The Rock 'n' Roll Extraterrestrial Connection' - says The Rolling Stones rocker developed an interest in extraterrestrial phenomena after a close encounter of the third kind in the 60s. Luckman told BANG Showbiz: "Mick Jagger has been very involved with the subject of UFOs for many years."In 1968 he went camping in Glastonbury with his then girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithful, and encountered a rare, luminous cigar-shaped mothership."Around the same time Mick had a UFO detector installed at his British estate. The alarm kept on going off whenever he left home, indicating the presence of strong electromagnetic activity in the immediate area."The 63-year-old singer also sighted a UFO over the crowd during The Rolling Stones' infamous 1969 Altamont Concert in California. Mick is not the only member of the band to believe in aliens. Guitarist Keith Richards has also admitted to "seeing a few". Beatles legend John Lennon is another musician Luckman claims has experienced personal contact with beings from another planet. He said: "John Lennon was apparently given a small egg shaped metallic-looking object which he in turn gave to Uri Geller, the psychic."He didn't know what the purpose of it was, but he claimed he had been given it by an extraterrestrial. Interestingly, this all happened less than a year before he was assassinated."

ROLLING STONES WANT HORSES DRUGGED

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones have sparked outrage over suggestions 300 horses should be drugged when they play their first Serbian concert.The legendary band are to perform at Belgrade's hippodrome race course in July to a crowd of around 100,000 people. However, fears are mounting for the horses who are stabled just a few yards from the venue and it has been suggested that sedative shots be administered to keep them calm during the raucous show. Jovanka Prelic, who cares for the equine residents, said: "Horses differ,the same as people. Some are more nervous, more skittish. If they get toonervous or start to panic during the concert, they'll get sedatives."The sedative could be diazepam, which was commonly used on horses during the 1999 Nato air strikes. Plans to calm the horses down have sparked fury in Serbia, with animal rights group Orca demanding the concert be moved to another venue. Head of Orca Elvir Burazerovic said: "Research has shown that noise and vibrations are the strongest causes of stress to animals. Surely our big city has enough open spaces where even 150,000 people can fit in. We think the hippodrome should be left to horses."Burazerovic also said if the organisers don't change the venue, the group will write directly to the band to ask them to switch. Burazerovic said: "I believe we will succeed, since such a reputable band will not allow such a stain on its record."

KEITH RICHARDS DID HIS FATHER !

Rolling Stones Keith Richards has done it all !

Keith Richards has acknowledged consuming a raft of illegal substances in his time, but this may top them all. In comments published today, the 63-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist said he had snorted his father's ashes mixed with cocaine. "The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father," Richards was quoted as saying by British music magazine NME. "He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared," he said. "... It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive." Richards' father, Bert, died in 2002, at 84. Richards, one of rock's legendary wild men, told the magazine that his survival was the result of luck, and advised young musicians against trying to emulate him. "I did it because that was the way I did it. Now people think it's a way of life," he was quoted as saying. "I've no pretensions about immortality," he added. "I'm the same as everyone ... just kind of lucky. "I was No. 1 on the 'who's likely to die' list for 10 years. I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list," Richards said.

L WREN SCOTT ON BOYFRIEND MICK JAGGER

L. Wren Scott And Boyfriend Mick Jagger

L'Wren Scott will never have children with Mick Jagger.The celebrity stylist, who has been dating Mick for six years, is happy looking after Mick's children from previous relationships and has no desire to have her own baby. L'Wren told Britain's Style magazine: "I have inherited many children. I feel overwhelmed and lucky because I have all these fantastic children in my life, who all have incredible personalities and fun."L'Wren, who is about to release her third fashion collection 'Under My Skin', remains tight-lipped over engagement rumors. When asked about the enormous diamond ring on her engagement finger, she blushed and said: "It's a very beautiful ring and that's all I'm going to say about it."The 40-year-old former model - who was chosen as the Pretty Polly girl in the iconic David Bailey advert where her 42 inch legs formed the hands of a clock - says her modelling work made her uncomfortable. L'Wren said: "I hated being objectified. I don't think I was very good at it. Because I was so tall, I just had people telling me what was wrong with me all day. It's pretty awful. You have to have a really great backbone and sense of self."

MICK JAGGER AND KEITH RICHARDS WORDS

Sir Mick Jagger says Keith Richards' boast that he created the stage set for The Rolling Stones' 'A Bigger Bang' world tour is a lie. During a live web cast announcing the band's forthcoming European tour, Mick said: "The set is amazing. It's really quite beautiful."Keith has been claiming he came up with most of the ideas for it."That's a good one! I think he's been telling porky pies (British slang for lies)."The legendary rockers will play more than 20 shows across Europe, kicking off in Belgium in June and finishing in London on August 21. Mick, 63, said: "I never get tired. I'm really looking forward to it."In reference to Keith - who last year had to have brain surgery after falling out of a coconut tree in Fiji causing the band to cancel several dates - Mick joked: "I'll nail him to the nearest room. I don't think he'll be climbing any palm trees."

ROLLING STONES TOP MONEY MAKERS

The Rolling Stones have topped the US music rich list for the second year running.The veteran rockers, who made $150.6 million in 2006, topped the annual listof music's top money makers compiled by Forbes.com . Like the majority of the biggest music earners, The Stones made most of their money on the road - their 'A Bigger Bang' tour generated $138.5 million. Forbes magazine said: "The Rolling Stones don't sell many discs these days, but they have little trouble luring fans to see them live.''Country music duo Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are second with $132 million.The married couple's 55-city tour grossed $88.8 million and McGraw made $34.3 million in album sales alone. Country trio Rascal Flatts - last year's best selling artist in the US -claimed third spot after selling five million albums and earning $43.6 million touring. Madonna is in fourth place after raking in $96.8 million last year. Her 14-date 'Confessions' tour made $85.9 million. Barbra Streisand claimed fifth place with $95.8 million, despite earning only $4 million from album sales. Streisand's 20 US shows generated $92.5 million, with tickets fetching up to $300. Other big earners included Renée Zellweger's country star ex-husband Kenny Chesney with $90.1 million, and Celine Dion who amassed $85.2 million in 2006 - her Las Vegas shows generated $78.1 million. Bon Jovi, Nickelback and the Dave Matthews Band also made the top 10.The list ranks acts by US tour grosses, album and download sales.

PETE TOWNSHEND SORRY TO THE STONES

The Who guitarist Pete Townshend has apologised to Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones for saying they are too old to tour.The 61-year-old rocker - who famously penned the line "I hope I die before I get old" in the band's classic hit 'My Generation' - previously claimed musicians from the 60s should call it a day and stop playing live. But Townshend has now taken back his scathing comments, insisting he acts like he's "drunk" when he shouts his mouth off in interviews. He said: "When I do interviews I must imagine being drunk and decide to shout my mouth off for old time's sake. But why do I pick on folks I love?" When he attacked Dylan and The Stones, Townshend insisted he wouldn't pay to go and see any of his contemporaries from the 60s, even his own band, because they are all past it. He said at the time: "I don't think the big bands are going to be able to do this much longer. I don't want to go out and see Bob Dylan or The Stones. I wouldn't pay money to see The Who, not even with new songs. It all makes me sick and I mean that in an ageist way."

The Rolling Stones