Odd funny story about a Keith interview from the Pirates of the Caribbean press run
Erik Hedegaard, an editor for Rolling Stone, interviewed Johnny Depp and his Pirates co-star, Keith Richards, in 2007 during the height of the pirate film franchise craze. And for the most part, the Los Angeles evening was cordial and pleasant. But the evening suddenly turned when Hedegaard asked Richards about his rings.
“The skull ring,” the reporter innocently asked. “Is that one of Iggy Pop’s skull rings, or is that a different one?”
Depp first broke the silence, nervously telling Hedegaard, “He’s the originator of the skull rings.” Next, the legendary guitarist spoke up, referring to himself in third person. “This is the original one. I’ve been wearing it for 30-odd years. You didn’t know that? You didn’t know that Keith Richards was famous for his skull ring?”
Richards became increasingly combative in his interview, calling the journalist a “fucking weirdo” before making a sinisterly vague comment, “There’s always the balcony.” He met each of the reporter’s questions with an answer that ranged from terse to aggressive. After Hedegaard asked the Stones founder about the manliness of wearing makeup, Richards replied, “Do you want to argue about it? You go ask that of John fucking Wayne and see what you get, pal. A very pointed stick. And then there’s the funnel with a red-hot lead enema. And a banana up your ass. Oh, baby, it’s coming.”
The interview ended with Richards telling the journalist “You don’t know shit from Shinola.” In fact, the conversation was such a bust that Rolling Stone ended up reassigning the story until Hedegaard shared his “banana nightmare-inducing” memory 14 years later in 2021.