Ronni“I told them, ‘Let me borrow it just for tonight — I promise I’ll bring it back.’ I didn’t return for another 5 or 6 years”

The unbelievable story of how Ronnie Wood ‘stole’ his first bass before becoming a Rolling Stones icon

Ronnie Wood may be a rock legend today — a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and longtime guitarist for The Rolling Stones — but his early career included a moment that sounds more like a scene from a coming-of-age movie: he essentially walked out of a shop with a bass he couldn’t afford.

A young musician with zero money and one burning need — a bass

Before joining the Stones, Wood cut his teeth in Britain’s blues-soaked club scene. Friends urged him to switch to bass, but for a young guitarist living hand-to-mouth, buying one wasn’t an option.

So he walked into London’s Sound City music shop and boldly asked:

“If you let me borrow a bass for tonight, I swear I’ll bring it back tomorrow.”

They handed him a Fender Jazz Bass.
Tomorrow never came.

Returning — years later — to confess

Wood ended up playing that Jazz Bass through his earliest bands, including the Birds and later Jeff Beck’s group. Only five or six years later, once he was touring the world with the Faces, did he return to make things right.

“I came back and said, ‘I’m the guy who walked off with that Fender Jazz Bass — and I’m here to pay for it.’
They just grinned and said, ‘We always figured it was you.’”

Faces are coming back — with new music

Faces, the band behind classics like Stay With Me, are now preparing their first release since 1973’s Ooh La La. Drummer Kenney Jones recently revealed that he, Wood and Rod Stewart have already completed 11 new songs.

Wood’s new anthology and reflections on his beginnings

Ronnie’s upcoming anthology Fearless looks back across his entire musical journey. In its liner notes, he recounts sharing a stage in the ’60s with the legendary Bo Diddley during his time in the Birds.

“Bo played with total freedom and wild confidence. He could even swap a broken string mid-song without stopping.”

The seat in the Stones that sparked debate

Wood officially joined The Rolling Stones in 1976, though fellow guitarist Harvey Mandel — who also auditioned — recently claimed he was the better match for the band. History, however, made its decision long ago.

Ronnie Wood and Slash - Little Queenie