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About the time Keith Richards crashed his car and nearly killed himself
In the long, chaotic history of the Rolling Stones, few moments sum up their mid-1970s volatility like Keith Richards’ Bentley crash of 1976. What began as a late-night drive after a Stones concert quickly spiraled into a mix of danger, excess, and headline-grabbing controversy. The crash itself left Richards and his passengers remarkably unharmed, but the discovery of drugs in the car turned a roadside accident into a legal and media storm, complete with wild claims and serious consequences for the band’s plans. Tour dates were scrapped, pressure mounted, and once again the Stones found themselves flirting with disaster—only to emerge bruised, battered, and still rolling.
May 19, 1976: Keith Richards crashed his Bentley, affectionately nicknamed Blue Lena, near Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire after reportedly falling asleep at the wheel. The accident caused significant damage to the car but, remarkably, Richards escaped without serious injury. When police arrived at the scene, they discovered both marijuana and cocaine inside the vehicle, turning what could have been written off as a moment of exhaustion into yet another legal headache for the Rolling Stones guitarist. The incident added to Richards’ growing reputation for living on the edge during the mid-1970s and resulted in another fine, reinforcing his status as rock’s most notorious survivor rather than slowing him down in any meaningful way.
Keith Richards Remembers the Car Crash: “I Just Passed Out”
“I’m a good driver. I mean, nobody’s perfect, right? Somewhere I lost it, fell asleep. I just passed out. We skidded off the road” Keith remembered in his book Life. “All I hear is Freddie Sessler in the back going, ‘Jesus fucking Christ!’ But I managed to get it off the road and into a field, which is after all the sensible thing to do. At least we didn’t hit anybody. We didn’t kill anybody; we didn’t even hurt ourselves“.
Keith Richards’ Close Call: A Crash, Legal Trouble, and Unwitting Mules
Richards was returning to London from a Rolling Stones concert in Knebworth when exhaustion finally caught up with him. He fell asleep at the wheel, drifted off the road, and slammed into a tree, bringing the journey to an abrupt and dangerous end. The 1965 Bentley was carrying seven passengers in total, among them Richards’ young son Marlon, making the crash all the more alarming. Remarkably, everyone escaped without serious injury, a stroke of luck widely credited to the Bentley’s heavy, solid construction, which absorbed much of the impact. The wrecked car stood as a twisted reminder of the risks Richards routinely took during this period, when relentless touring, late nights, and excess were inseparable from life on the road.
While he escaped serious injury in the crash itself, Richards would prove far less lucky once the matter reached the authorities. He was arrested and fined after police discovered what was initially described as a “drug substance” inside the car. That finding quickly escalated beyond a routine charge, triggering a wider investigation that spiraled into sensational claims that the Rolling Stones were being used as unwitting couriers for an international drug cartel. Although the more dramatic accusations would later unravel, the episode added another layer of legal drama and notoriety to Richards’ already turbulent mid-1970s, keeping his name in the headlines long after the wreckage had been cleared from the roadside.
A Turbulent Spring and Summer: The Rolling Stones’ Tough Decisions
The Rolling Stones endured a turbulent spring and summer, even though the consequences of Richards’ car accident could easily have been far more serious. Legal uncertainty, mounting press scrutiny, and concerns over Richards’ health and reliability cast a long shadow over the band’s plans. Faced with the risk of further complications, the Stones ultimately chose to cancel several scheduled U.S. tour dates that had been lined up for later in the year, a rare but necessary retreat at a time when momentum was everything. In the end, Richards emerged from the investigation with what he later, and gratefully, described as “a slap on the wrist,” a comparatively mild outcome that allowed the band to regroup, refocus, and continue forward—once again surviving a crisis that might have derailed a less resilient group.
KeithRichards’ Modified Bentley: A Secret Compartment and a Colorful History
He later acknowledged that the car had actually been modified to include a secret compartment for drug delivery. Richards’ Bentley garnered attention when it was put up for auction in 2015 because it had been involved in a number of colorful Stones-related tales over the years, including being the scene of the beginning of his relationship with Anita Pallenberg.
In Keith’s words…
“I did make some speech along the lines of, this is my life, this is the way we live and shit happens. You don’t live like me. I do what I have to do,” Keith wrote in Life. “If I fuck up, I’m very sorry. I’m just living a peaceful life. Let me get to the next gig. In other words, ‘Hey, it’s only rock ‘n’ roll.'”
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