Keith Richards is the legendary rock'n'roll survivor of our time. He's the shy, half-educated boy from Dartford; the player and writer of timeless rock classics like (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction , Ruby Tuesday and Brown Sugar , among scores of others; the titanic abuser of every conceivable drug; a cultural icon to three generations of fans; and latterly a contented family man who continues, nonetheless, to be rock's most indomitable living practitioner. The man who was confidently expected never to reach 30 celebrates his 60th birthday in December 2003 and the Rolling Stones' touring machine is creaking into gear once more. But who is the real Keith behind the kohl-eyed image? In this penetrative and entertaining portrait, Sandford reveals a life of brilliant invention, of talent, self-destruction, drugs, sex and lurid excess, and above all the glorious rush of the music.