Keith Richards opens up about habit he gave up because it was ‘childish’

Keith Richards gave up smoking because he thought it was "childish."

The Rolling Stones rocker quit nicotine six years ago, although he still smokes "a lot of" marijuana, because he knew he needed to start looking after his body if he wanted to stay alive.

He told The Guardian newspaper, “I tended to listen to my body just before it screamed for help.”

“I mean, I wasn’t far from the end of the runway before I screamed for help. But you tend to slow down if you want to keep going; you pace yourself,” the legendary musician added.

He further mentioned, “Suddenly, I felt like after all these years of smoking – because, you know, a man smokes – I was sat around with this silly thing in my mouth thinking: how childish. It was that that put me off more than anything, although I smoke a lot of weed."

The 82-year-old guitarist noted he is currently not drinking, but hasn't given up completely and only indulges "in moderation."

He quipped, “So, yeah, it’s only a ton of heroin a day now.”

The Satisfaction hitmaker has seven grandchildren from his four children and recently became a great-grandad for the first time when Ella Richards - whose father is Keith's son Marlon - and her long-term partner Sascha von Bismarck welcomed daughter Luna into the world.

Keith believes he is a "fantastic" grandparent, saying, "It’s been a couple of weeks. It’s a new thing for me. But I’m a fantastic grandad.”

“Great-grandadding is … I try to let them hang with me for as long as humanly possible, then I hand ’em back. I’ve been doing a lot of grandfathering in the last year or so,” he stated.

"I’ve got three or four new ones, you know. When I say new, I mean … two or three years old. Or four. Or one, or maybe five. I lose track, you know,” Keith said.

Additionally, as Keith ages, he tries not to "dwell" on his age too much and mentioned, "I think it might cross the mind occasionally – you’d be an idiot not to. But it’s not something you dwell on. By now I’m fully set on my path and I’m just going to see where it goes.”