RONNIE WOOD

I go off into Dublin and two days later I'm spotted walking by the Liffey with a whole bunch of new friends.

There's a basic rule which runs through all kinds of music, kind of an unwritten rule. I don't know what it is. But I've got it.

People often get the wrong impression of Mick. The clever businessman is just one side of Mick. The other side is the same as the rest of us, a true rocker!

Jo left me a few months ago for 10 days. I get this note: I'll come back when the real Ronnie comes back.

Having loved the Stones all the time I was growing up, I wasn't about to see them go and split up. It got very close to it in the 80s, when Mick thought that Keith hated him and vice versa.

I'm a Gemini, so I have a great time with the other guy.

The last show we played, I was straight as a die. It did feel weird not to be hiding behind alcohol or dope, but being focused was... good.

When I'm left on my own I'm my own worst enemy.

I just think my body can't handle it any more. I did try a little drink a while back, and I was actually physically ill. I went into an immediate depression, and felt awful, just dreadful. So that's it. I'm over it now.

Let's face it: I paint well. I know it, you know it. There's no arguing really, is there?

We're great, Jo and me. We're pals, and I guess sex has a lot to do with it. She's also brilliant at clearing a room. So protective, so devoted. I can't believe how much she loves me.

I can't be left unsupervised.

What can I say, I'm an alcoholic. It's what I do.

I always want to rock.

I love to go to Ireland just to relax.

I'm terrible with money, absolutely awful. I'm always losing it.

Mick says, Would you join the band? I say to him, Mick, you know I'd be there in a New York minute.

I like it when journalists are nice to me, and it's happening more and more.

My dad lived till he was 78, my mum was in her 80s, and I've got two uncles who are in their 90s now.

My real self is probably more creative and more frightening than any sort of drink or drug-induced state.

They say you can smoke 400 cigs a day and drink 20 cups of coffee, but you can't have a line or a drink again.

When I first saw Jo, I said boom, that was it, because I'm a one-woman man.

I've got an article where my mum says that I used to run home from school to watch the Stones on TV. Right from when I was at college I wanted to be in that band.

I heard this massive thud. I spun around, and there Keith was, on the ground. He'd cut his gums up on impact, he was very bloody, and clutching his head. I think it was a kind of wake-up call for him.

Mick has expressed an interest in coming to the gallery tonight because he's seen me behaving myself lately. He is being much more supportive, which is nice.