RON DON'T GO: HAVE THE ROLLING STONES FIRED RON WOOD?

As you know, I don't write about rock star gossip, and it's been hard to avoid it in Ronnie Wood's case. The short version is he was in rehab (again), bailed, went to a bar, hooked up with a very young waitress, left his wife for her, and has seemingly been on a bender since then.

Without getting too into the details, England's Daily Mail is reporting that Mick Jagger may have had enough of Ronnie's nonsense and may fire him from The Rolling Stones. I think the Mail is a gossip publication, but they are reporting that Ronnie's wife Jo has always been like his caretaker, and without her he's out of control, and Mick doesn't want to deal with it (which is understandable). Realistically speaking, the Stones can't have many tours left in them, and probably just one. And I don't think Mick wants to stress through the tour wondering what is up with Ron. While I would never go and see the Stones if, say, Charlie Watts quit (as he was rumored to have done earlier this year), I could accept the Stones without Ronnie, although it would be a shame.

I wonder if this is why Rod Stewart has avoided reuniting with The Faces: at this point in his career, he probably doesn't want to deal with someone who doesn't work for him, especially if that person  is out of control.

I should stress, again, that The Daily Mail is (I believe) a very gossipy publication, but its no secret that Ron has been erratic lately, and if Mick wants to do a Stones tour in 2010, it's not hard to imagine that he'd be willing to cut Ronnie if he can't get his shit together. Ronnie missed out on some of the sessions for the last Stones album, A Bigger Bang, because of an earlier stint in rehab.