Rolling Stones pay emotional tribute to Charlie Watts at first show since drummer’s death

'We all miss Charlie so much,' says Mick Jagger during the US concert

The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger during a in 2019. Reuters

The Rolling Stones paid a stirring tribute to Charlie Watts during the first concert held since the drummer's death.

Frontman Mick Jagger dedicated the show, held in Massachusetts, US, on Tuesday, to Watts, who died in August aged 80.

“Charlie, we’re playing for you," said band member Ronnie Wood at the concert, a warm-up show held at the Gillette Stadium ahead of the British band beginning their latest US tour on Sunday.

The 13-date US tour marks the first time in almost 60 years that the Rolling Stones have played without Watts, who has been replaced by drummer Steve Jordan for the series of shows.

“It’s the first show of our 2021 tour, this is it, this is a try out," Jagger, 78, told the audience in an emotional speech captured on camera and shared on the singer's Twitter page.

“I must say though at this point, it’s a bit of a poignant night for us and it’s our first tour we’ve done in 59 years that we’ve done without our lovely Charlie Watts, and we all miss Charlie so much.

“We miss him as a band, we miss him as friends on and off the stage and we’ve got so many memories of Charlie and I’m sure some of you that have have seen us before have got memories of Charlie as well and I hope you will remember him as we do.”

Watts, who had been with the Satisfaction rock group since 1963, died on August 24 after suffering from an unspecified health issue.

His death came just weeks after the dummer confirmed he would miss several US tour dates in order to recover from a medical procedure.

In 2004, Watts was treated for throat cancer at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital and he was given the all-clear after a four-month battle with the disease, involving six weeks of intensive radiotherapy treatment.

During the Gillette Stadium show, The Rolling Stones performed the live debut of Troubles A' Comin, a track the band originally recorded in the 1980s.

The song will be officially released next month to mark the 40th anniversary of the band's 1981 album Tattoo You.