The Rolling Stones Remember Amy Winehouse Ahead of New Album Launch

JAKARTA - The Rolling Stones again remember the late Amy Winehouse. This memory was revealed ahead of the launch of their 25th studio album, "Foreign Tongues", where the Stones included a version of Winehouse's song, "You Know I'm No Good".

The Stones' personnel expressed deep loss over Winehouse's tragic death 15 years ago. Given his closeness to Winehouse, Ronnie Wood (guitar) likened the singer's departure to the loss of jazz legends such as Billie Holiday.

"I feel sad because he didn't live his whole life fully. His departure is like saying goodbye again to Billie Holiday," Wood said in a recent interview with The Sunday Times.

Wood recounted that the problem of addiction experienced by Winehouse was often the topic of conversation between them. However, he emphasized, the problem never affected Winehouse's professionalism when she was on stage.

"He once said, 'Oh, Ronnie, what should I do?'. I replied, 'Listen, everyone knows you keep vodka in the water bottle. Control yourself and get on stage.' If you can take it there (the stage) and he survives there, his performance will be amazing," the guitarist recalled.

On the other hand, Keith Richards (guitar) expressed his regret for not having the opportunity to get to know Amy Winehouse more deeply after their collaboration at the Isle of Wight festival in 2007. At the performance, the Stones and Winehouse collaborated to perform "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" by The Temptations.

"I always thought, 'Well, I'll definitely see him again at another opportunity.' You always hope that happens, but unfortunately it didn't. However, that's what the recording was made for. I'm just really happy and honored to have played with him at least once," said Richards.

For information, the rearranged "You Know I'm No Good" is confirmed to be on the list of 14 tracks on the album "Foreign Tongues" which is scheduled to be released on July 10.

The album will also feature a number of top musicians such as Paul McCartney, Robert Smith, Steve Winwood, to the late original Stones drummer, Charlie Watts.