Keith Richards: I Did Not Snort My Own Father's Ashes

C Goodman

Okay, rocker Keith Richards has done a lot of crazy things in his day. But the Rolling Stones guitarist says snorting his own father's ashes isn't one of them. Media outlets around the world ran with a story yesterday published in a London music magazine where Richards is quoted saying: "The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow ... . It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."

Everyone from AP and Reuters to MSNBC and the Drudge Report picked up the quote, never bothering to check the facts. When MTV's Kurt Loder contacted reps for Richards, they told him that the comment was made "in jest" and they "can't believe anyone took [it] seriously."

Earlier today, Richards released a statement himself on the Rolling Stones' website saying that "the complete story (was) lost in the usual slanting."

Richards added, quote, "The truth of the matter is that I planted a sturdy English Oak. I took the lid off the box of ashes, and he is now growing oak trees and would love me for it!!! I was trying to say how tight Bert and I were. That tight!!! I wouldn't take cocaine at this point in my life unless I wished to commit suicide."

Whether he did or not, this story is destined to be one of those urban legends that won't die for many years to come.