Bill Wyman is intensely proud of his band The Rhythm Kings one of the most entertaining UK all-star bands on the road. They celebrate the spirit of R&B, blues and rock’n’roll, the music that inspired Bill, well before the birth of the Rolling Stones.
Bill was born William George Perks in Lewisham Hospital, London on October 24, 1936. His family grew up in Sydenham and had piano lesson from the age of ten. He went to Beckenham Grammar School from 1947 until 1953 then did National Service in the RAF from 1955 to 1957.
He joined the Rolling Stones as their bass guitarist in 1962 and enjoyed international success with them for three decades. When Wyman left the Stones in 1992 he wasn’t planning on going back into music and might have settled down to enjoy retirement. His departure ushered in a new era in which Bill became an author and an expert in archaeology and metal detecting.
‘Bill Wyman’s Treasure Islands’ has been a best seller and his memoirs ‘Stone Alone’ and ‘Rolling With The Stones’ and ‘Bill Wyman’s Blues Odyssey’ and accompanying TV documentaries have all been huge successes.
The last thing on his mind was another band. As he put it ‘I needed a rest!’ But when he formed Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings in 1997 it satisfied his love of the rock’n’roll and need to get back on the road. The Rhythm Kings have released such albums as ‘Struttin’ Our Stuff’ (1997), ‘Anyway The Wind Blows’ (1999), ‘Groovin’ (May 2000), ‘Double Bill’ (2001) and ‘Just For A Thrill’ (2004) and his latest ‘Live’ (2011).
Top musicians Gary Brooker, Georgie Fame, Albert Lee, Andy Fairweather and Geraint Watkins and Peter Frampton are just some of the many top musicians who have become ‘Kings.’ And the band has been back on the road touring the UK during Autumn 2011. Bill is one Stone who never stops rolling!
