1960s Wood began his career as a professional musician in 1964 as a lead guitarist with
the Birds, a
R&B band based in
Yiewsley,
Middlesex. A popular live act with a considerable fan base, the Birds released several singles in the mid-1960s; Wood wrote or co-wrote nearly half the songs the group recorded. By 1967, the Birds had disbanded, and Wood briefly took part in a project called
Santa Barbara Machine Head which included later
Deep Purple co-founder
Jon Lord, before joining the
Jeff Beck Group initially as a rhythm guitarist, switching roles to bassist later that year following the departures of both original bassist
Jet Harris and his replacement Jeff Ambrose. Along with vocalist
Rod Stewart, Wood embarked on several tours with Beck and recorded two albums:
Truth in 1968 and
Beck-Ola in 1969. In between Jeff Beck Group projects, Wood also worked with
the Creation. In Wood's radio show on 14 November 2011, both Wood and
Alice Cooper claimed that Wood performed the bass on
the Crazy World of Arthur Brown's number one hit "
Fire"; Polly Marshall's biography of
Arthur Brown states that "according to the-faces.com, Ronnie claims he played on the Track Records studio sessions recording Fire, but he must have confused it with the BBC session [of 8 April 1968]." There is no bass guitar on the recording, only
bass pedals. During the summer of 1969, Stewart and Wood also set the template for what would become Faces on ''
An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down'', Stewart's first solo album (known as
The Rod Stewart Album in the US). The backing band on the album also included
Ian McLagan,
Keith Emerson,
Micky Waller, and guitarists
Martin Pugh (of
Steamhammer and later
Armageddon and
7th Order) and
Martin Quittenton (also from Steamhammer).
1970s , with Rod Stewart (right) in 1975 In the first half of the 1970s, Faces released four studio albums and were among the top-grossing live acts of the period. Besides his distinctive guitar work, Wood contributed harmonica, vocals, and bass to the band's recordings, and co-wrote many of their songs, including "
Stay With Me" and "
Ooh La La". He also played on bandmate Stewart's first few solo albums and is co-writer of the Rod Stewart songs "
Gasoline Alley" and "
Every Picture Tells a Story", Eventually, Jagger and
Keith Richards also contributed to Wood's solo LP. ''
I've Got My Own Album to Do'' was released in 1974, Although still a member of Faces, he toured North America with the Rolling Stones in 1975; Faces announced their break-up in December of that year, and Wood was officially declared a member of the Rolling Stones on 23 April 1976. a practice borrowed from
Chicago Blues which Richards dubbed "the ancient art of weaving." Wood also occasionally plays bass guitar, as seen during 1975 concert performances of "
Fingerprint File", when
Mick Jagger played rhythm guitar and bassist
Bill Wyman moved to synthesiser. The Rolling Stones' single "
Emotional Rescue" also features Wood on bass. He has been given credit as a co-writer for over a dozen songs, including "Dance", "
Black Limousine", "
One Hit (to the Body)", and "Had It With You". In 1975, Wood released his second solo album,
Now Look; his third,
Gimme Some Neck, came out in 1979. To promote it, Wood formed and toured with
the New Barbarians, playing 20 concerts in Canada and the US in April/May and the
Knebworth Festival in the UK in August.
1980s Throughout the 1980s, Wood played as an official member of the Rolling Stones; continued his solo career, releasing the album
1234 in 1981; painted; and collaborated with a number of other artists, including
Prince,
Bob Dylan,
David Bowie,
Eric Clapton,
Bo Diddley,
Ringo Starr and
Aretha Franklin. At the 1985
Live Aid Concert in
Philadelphia, Wood along with Keith Richards performed in the penultimate set with Bob Dylan. During the performance of "
Blowin' in the Wind", one of Dylan's guitar strings broke. Wood gave Dylan his guitar to keep the performance seamless and played
air guitar until a stagehand brought him a replacement.
1990s–2010s tour in December 2012 Wood was made a fully-fledged partner in the Rolling Stones' financial organisation in 1990. During the 1990s, the Rolling Stones released two studio albums and three concert albums, as well as touring in 1990, 1994–95, and 1997–99. On 11 August 2009, Wood joined
Pearl Jam on the stage of
Shepherd's Bush Empire in London for a performance of "
All Along the Watchtower". On 25 October 2009, Wood, Ian McLagan, and Kenney Jones joined forces for a
Faces performance at London's
Royal Albert Hall on behalf of the Performing Rights Society's Music Members' Benevolent Fund.
Bill Wyman played bass; lead vocals were shared by several performers, notably
Mick Hucknall. Rod Stewart, who had earlier denied rumours of plans for a Faces reunion in 2009, was not present. On 2 November 2009, Wood was given an "Outstanding Contribution" award at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour ceremony in London.
Pete Townshend presented the award. Since 9 April 2010, Wood has presented his own radio show on
Absolute Radio. Airing on Saturday night at 10 pm, the one-hour show consists of Wood playing tracks by artists he has worked with and other personal favourites. In May 2011 Wood won the Sony Radio Personality of the Year award for
The Ronnie Wood Show. In May 2023, Wood performed at the
Jeff Beck tribute concerts held at the Royal Albert Hall, sharing the stage with Rod Stewart,
Eric Clapton,
Kirk Hammett, and
Johnny Depp among others and two months later, he made a surprise appearance during the
Hollywood Vampires concert at O2 Arena in London. In 2024, he contributed guitar to a re-release of
Mark Knopfler's "
Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero" in aid of the
Teenage Cancer Trust. In 2025, Wood worked with Stewart on a new documentary about the Faces, and a new Faces album. ==Other ventures==