February

Keith Arrested In Toronto

With a strong live album emerging from the haphazard European tour, Mick had decided the band should meet in Toronto to record a few small club dates for the live release. With Keith and Anita’s relationship resembling a living hell, they holed up in the group’s Toronto hotel. Acting on a tip, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police descended upon Keith, who had passed out in one of the rooms, resuscitating him long enough to arrest him for having sufficient heroin to be charged as a drug dealer.

Amazingly, not only did America let him into the country to join a rehab clinic almost immediately, but when the case came to trial in October 1978, Keith was practically let off. His stated legend is that a blind girl, Rita – who had followed the Stones to every show on the 1975 TOTA, and whom Keith had taken great care of each night – was related to the judge, and told him what Keith had done for her. The judge ruled that all Keith had to do was play a free concert for a school of the blind, and the resulting sentence also allowed things to cool enough for Keith to be granted permanent entry to the States with a green card. He would never be arrested again.

July

Keith Cleans Up

With his troubles mounting, Keith was making a determined effort to get clean, and was told by his lawyers that if he knew what was good for him – staying away from drugs and out of prison – then he should also stay away from Anita. Treated by Mick as a scapegoat for all of Keith’s problems, it was the beginning of the end for the most important female in the Stones’ circle.

September

Love You Live

With sleeve art by Andy Warhol – who was distraught when Jagger added some pencil scrawls to it – Love You Live was a double live album, with tracks taken from the 1975 TOTA, the night in Paris in 1976 when Keith was told of his son’s death, and the club shows from Toronto in 1977. It was the final album on Rolling Stones Records, and it managed to go Top 10 in the UK and US.

Personalities | Introducing The Rolling Stones
Personalities | The Rolling Stones (1978) | Key Events