What Is Ronnie Wood's Net Worth?
Ronnie Wood is an English rock musician who has a net worth of $200 million. Ronnie Wood is best known as a member of The Rolling Stones since 1975. Born in 1947, Wood began his career in the 1960s as a member of The Birds, a British R&B band. He later joined the Jeff Beck Group as a bass player, and then became a member of the Faces alongside Rod Stewart.
In 1975, Wood replaced Mick Taylor as the lead guitarist of The Rolling Stones, a position he has held ever since. With the Stones, he has recorded numerous hit albums and toured extensively, cementing his status as one of the most iconic guitarists in rock history.
Alongside his work with the Stones, Wood has maintained a successful solo career, releasing several albums featuring his own compositions and showcasing his skills as a multi-instrumentalist. He is also a talented artist, with his paintings and drawings having been exhibited in galleries around the world.
Despite his struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, Wood has remained a vital force in the music industry for over five decades. His distinctive guitar playing style and stage presence have made him a beloved figure among rock fans, and his contributions to the genre continue to inspire new generations of musicians.
Early Life
Ronnie Wood was born Ronald David Wood on June 1, 1947, in Middlesex, England. Wood was born into a family of "water gypsies," a term used to describe people who spend most of their lives traveling in barges down narrow canals. According to Ronnie, his birth marked the beginning of the first-ever generation of his family that had been born on dry land.
By a very young age, Wood's artistic talent was plain to see. While his skills as a visual artist first caught the eye of his family, he nonetheless became an accomplished musician by the age of ten. At this time, he performed his first gig at the Regal Cinema in London alongside his father.
By the time Ronnie had reached his teen years, he had already established himself as a professional musician with a band called the Birds. Wood played the guitar and wrote or co-wrote many of their songs. While the band was never as successful as the Rolling Stones, it was nonetheless quite popular as a local act with entertaining live performances.
After attending a variety of schools as a boy, Ronnie eventually enrolled in Ealing College, a well-known art school that produced some of the world's most famous musicians and artists. Along with Wood, Ealing has produced musicians such as Freddie Mercury and Pete Townshend.
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Musical Career and Mainstream Success
After the Birds, Wood joined a number of groups, including Santa Barbara Machine Head, the Jeff Beck Group, and the Creation – usually as a bass guitarist. A string of other projects finally ended with Ronnie joining a band called Faces, and he returned to his instrument of choice – the guitar. At the time, Faces represented Wood's most successful project, and the band was one of the most profitable live acts of the decade. Along with the guitar, the multi-talented artist also played the harmonica and bass guitar for many of their recordings while singing and writing many of their songs.
Joining the Rolling Stones
By the early '70s, Ronnie had established a close relationship with many well-known figures within the music industry, including members of the Rolling Stones. Mick Taylor had been a close friend since the '60s, and the two worked together on Wood's solo album. This led Ronnie to collaborate with Keith Richards and the other members of the Stones on the song "It's Only Rock n' Roll," which in turn led Richards and Mick Jagger to contribute to Wood's solo album.
When Mick Taylor left the Rolling Stones in 1974, Ronnie was the obvious replacement. After touring with the band and contributing to their album "Black and Blue," Wood left the dissolving Faces and officially became a "Stone." He plays a slide steel guitar for the Rolling Stones – just like his predecessors.
It was not until 1990 that Wood was made a partner in the financial organization of the Rolling Stones. Prior to this development, the guitarist was technically an employee of the Rolling Stones organization and was paid a monthly salary. Although Ronnie is a talented artist and has released a series of short autobiographical books, his involvement with the Rolling Stones is responsible for a massive percentage of his total net worth.
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Family Life
Ronnie has six children. His first wife was a former model, and they split up in 1978 after having one son together. In 1985, he remarried, having two more children and adopting his new wife's previous son from another marriage. Wood also has at least six grandchildren. In 2008, he left his wife to pursue a relationship with Katia Ivanova. His wife filed for divorce in 2009.
In 2012, Woods married Sally Humphries, and the couple welcomed twin girls into the world in 2016. Ronnie was 69 at the time.
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Struggles with Alcoholism
Wood has admitted to having problems with addiction to drugs and alcohol. Being exposed to the music industry at such a young age also exposed him to its negative aspects, and he was drinking heavily by the time he was 14.
Although the rest of the Rolling Stones were obviously involved in the same levels of intoxication synonymous with a rockstar lifestyle, Wood went beyond that. At one point, the guitarist was allegedly so "messed up" that Keith Richards held a gun to his head.
The rocker has been in and out of rehab continuously, although with spells of sobriety here and there. In 2006, he checked himself into rehab after a three-year stretch of not drinking. By his own admittance, the musician has been in rehab at least six times.
Cancer Diagnosis
In 2017, the musician was diagnosed with lung cancer. Although Wood refused to undergo chemotherapy, he nonetheless recovered completely after part of his lung was surgically removed.
Although music provided Wood his pathway to fame and fortune, this talented artist displayed the skills and passion to succeed in virtually any artistic discipline. Ronnie is still a touring member of the Rolling Stones and an active visual artist.
London Castle
Ronnie has owned a number of homes, including a mansion in the suburbs of London. Wood's estate sits on 2.31 acres of rolling green lawns. The three-floor main house opens into a vestibule that has a pointed Gothic arch door leading to a reception hall. The church-like architecture is repeated throughout the mansion. The home is 11,590 square feet and has nine bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The reception hall is used as the formal living room, featuring hardwood floors and paneled walls, a leaded glass bay window, and a fireplace. The ground floor also includes a formal dining room with a fireplace, a morning room with a fireplace overlooking the rear terrace and gardens, a family room with a fireplace, and a solarium with stone flooring. There is a breakfast room with a built-in bar and a kitchen with a pressed tin ceiling and stone flooring. The second floor has a study, gym, and four bedrooms. The third floor has a large loft room, two bedrooms, and a two-room suite with a kitchenette and private balcony. The estate also contains a cottage, lodge, wine cellar, garage building, and pool house.
