Shirley Watts Obituary details have not been made public yet.
After a brief illness, Charlie Watts’ wife Shirley passed away at the age of 82, 16 months after the Rolling Stones drummer, Charlie lost his fight with cancer.
Their children said in a statement that Shirley had been reunited with her beloved Charlie.
They stated: “Seraphina, Charlotte, and Barry announce the passing of their cherished mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law Shirley Watts with deep sorrow.”
After a brief illness, Shirley passed away quietly on Friday, December 16, in Devon, surrounded by her family.
She will also be sorely missed by her siblings, Stephen, Jackie, and Jill. She has been permanently reunited with her beloved Charlie.
She studied sculpting at the Royal College of Art in 1961 when she met Charlie Watts, a graphic designer and part-time jazz musician who was born Shirley Ann Shepherd in September 1938.
The two met while Charlie was at his first rehearsal for Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated while also working a day job at an advertising agency.
Charlie joined the band a year earlier, and they got married in 1964 before the Rolling Stones became well-known.
Their daughter Seraphina was born four years later to Shirley.
Shirley and Charlie eventually made their way to Devon, where she maintained a top-notch Arabian stud farm and earned a stellar reputation as a breeder and competitor in the global Arabian horse community.
Shirley remained the passion of the Rolling Stones drummer’s life for the whole of their 57-year marriage, and their love remained unwavering over time.
Shirley was a talented sculptor and a fervent advocate for animal rescue.
I don’t have all the trappings of it, Charlie previously said in an interview with NME. Having said that, I do own four antique vehicles, but I am unable to operate them.
Charlie previously referred to his wife as “an wonderful woman.” The one thing I regret about my life is that I never spent enough time at home.
But she always encourages me to go back out once I get off tour because I am a nightmare.
Charlie has also said that Shirley and Seraphina, his daughter, saved his life when he seemed to get sucked into the drug-related element of the rock and roll lifestyle.
Charlie and Shirley Watts were married for more nearly 50 years before Charlie passed away in 2021, unlike Wood, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards who all had numerous wives and girlfriends.
The sole known crisis in their relationship took place in the middle of the 1980s, during Charlie Watts’ battle with heroin addiction, which, according to Watts, almost cost him his marriage. The media largely avoided him because he was thought to be so dedicated to his wife and daughter Seraphina.
The drummer, who was 80 years old, passed away at a hospital accompanied by his family.
Due to emergency surgery, Watts had to cancel his participation in the Rolling Stones’ US tour just before he passed away, albeit the precise cause of the celebrity’s demise was never made public.
