Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts was laid to rest in a "modest" funeral in Devon, England last week, according to the band's former tour manager.
The British rocker passed away in a London hospital surrounded by his family on 24 August at the age of 80, and now his old friend Sam Cutler, who first worked with Watts in the 1960s, has revealed that he was laid to rest in Devon in a funeral that perfectly suited the fame-shy drummer.
"It's fitting to learn that Charlie Watts' funeral - held last week in Devon, the place that he loved best - was modest and private," Cutler wrote in an essay for The Daily Mirror. "It perfectly reflects the man he was, and I completely understand the choice that was made. He would have hated a fuss and the commotion that involving the public would have meant."
The former tour manager didn't disclose who attended the service, but reports suggest that Watts' bandmates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood were unable to fly back to Devon from the U.S., where they are rehearsing for their tour, due to Covid-19 restrictions.
In the weeks before he died, it was announced that Watts would sit out of the No Filter tour to recover from a procedure and he was replaced by Steve Jordan.
In the piece, Cutler insisted Watts would have wanted his bandmates to continue performing without him.
"An era has passed but the show will go on. Charlie had already approved of his temporary replacement when he was ill. He would have wanted his band mates to continue," he continued. "I feel certain that they will, and that every show will become a tribute to a remarkable and well-loved man, for there is no way that they will not continue being the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world."
The tour resumes on 26 September.
