Bill Wyman Says Rolling Stones Figured They’d Last ‘Four Years Tops’

Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman has been out of the group for nearly 20 years, but that doesn’t stop people from asking him what the latest happenings are with the band.

“The taxi driver will say, 'Hello Bill, when are the Stones touring again?' I would say, 'I left twenty years ago.' People still think of me as a part of the Stones.”

But his relationship with his bandmates remains extremely friendly, as Wyman relates to the Huffington Post. When he turned 75, the band sent him 75 roses and a bottle of champagne. He also continues to consult on archival Rolling Stones projects including the recent singles box set.

Granted, he says that happened largely because he was the only one who actually had all of the singles, so he was able to provide them with the original artwork and instructions so they could digitally scan the materials for release.

Wyman treasures the thirty years that he spent with the Rolling Stones, and with the band’s fifty-year anniversary on tap, the whole thing has gone on a lot longer they ever could have predicted. “When we started off, we all thought it was going to last maybe two, maybe three, and if we're dead lucky, four years tops.”

His desire to pursue other interests and dreams eventually led to his departure in 1992.

“I was going to do all of these other things--photography, archeology, write books, etc.-- 30 years went by, and I hadn't done any of it... I really didn't have time to do the solo albums either, I did them in-between Stones things in pieces, which was unsatisfactory. So, I thought it was time to move on and it's time to do all of the other stuff I wanted to do.”

The Stones are reportedly figuring out their 50^th anniversary plans now and Keith Richards says that in a perfect world, those plans could include former members like Wyman and Mick Taylor.