Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is a rock and roll legend in his own right. While Mick Jagger’s swagger and dance moves come to mind with classic hits like “Gimme Shelter” or “Wild Horses,” Richards’ unprecedented musical talent is the not-so-quiet backbone of the iconic band.
Since they founded the group in 1962, Richards and Jagger have been on a wild ride of fame that has spanned more than half a century. From drug arrests to many romantic partners, the Rolling Stones undoubtedly epitomize the “drugs, sex, and rock ‘n roll” lifestyle.
However, Richards had two long-term relationships and a marriage that in total resulted in four children. Richards began dating the ex-girlfriend of his Rolling Stones bandmate Brian Jones, model and actress Anita Pallenberg, in 1967.
Despite their “turbulent relationship” as the Associated Press describes it, Richards and Pallenberg remained together, until 1980 after Richards suspected that she had been unfaithful to Jagger. (via The Guardian).
“He is a fantastic person. I will always love her. I can’t live with her, you know?” Richards told Rolling Stone magazine in 1981. The couple had three children together: daughter Angela and sons Marlon and Tara.
Richards went on to have two other children, daughters Theodora and Alexandra, with model Patti Hansen, whom he met in 1979 before breaking up with Pallenberg. It was love at first sight, and the duo tied the knot in 1983.
According to Vogue, they are still married to this day. So who are the Richards children? Keep scrolling!
Keith Richards is now a “strict” father of four after being “haunted” by the death of his fifth child.
Keith Richards takes parenting seriously. The eldest son, Marlon Richards, had a tumultuous childhood, even going on tour with The Rolling Stones while Pallenberg sought drug addiction treatment, according to The Daily Mail UK.
Marlon opted out of the limelight for a quieter life as an adult, and works as an artist and graphic designer for Heavy. His daughter Ella Rose Richards is also a rising model who has appeared in Teen Vogue.
Tara, Richards’ second child with Pallenberg, tragically died at two months of age due to sudden infant death syndrome. Richards wrote in his 2011 memoir Life that he “could never forgive” himself for Tara’s death and that it “haunted” him for decades afterward.
Richards and Pallenberg’s middle daughter Angela (her birth name Dandelion) was born when Richards was convinced that Pallenberg was having an affair with his bandmate Mick Jagger.
While Richards was unsure of Angela’s paternity according to Daily Mail UK, Angela was raised by Richards’ mother Doris and today runs an equestrian school.
As for Richards’ two gorgeous daughters with his wife Patti Hansen, blonde bombshell have been modeling since their teens. The sisters told DuJour that their famous father’s closet was often raided, but that Richards was surprisingly “upright strict on the rules” (via Express).
Richards even wrote a children’s book with Theodora illustrating! The united family is as timeless as the Stones’ stardom.