Mick Jagger & Keith Richards BACKSTAGE

February 24, 1977: As Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg arrive in Toronto, Anita is arrested at the airport for possession of cannabis and other substances. 

February 27, 1977: Keith Richards is arrested in his hotel room in Toronto with large quantities of heroin, cocaine and drug paraphernalia. Keith Richards is instructed he is being charged with possession of heroin with the purpose of trafficking and is given a short court hearing before being released on bail.

I don’t know whether I thought there wouldn’t be another Stones album. The way I recall it is we just had to wait and see. But there was a lot of talk of a jail sentence, as it was such a heavy drug arrest. He had SO much heroin on him [laughs]. It was like an industrial amount. You’re automatically done for trafficking so the onus is on you to prove that you’re not.

-Mick Jagger 

It was a worry, but I didn’t think it was the end of the band. We’d done Exile, and been busted then. Not me, but “we” as in the name The Rolling Stones. The real worry was whether we could tour again.

-Charlie Watts

January 10-12, 1977: At Aylesbury Crown Court in London, England, Keith Richards is tried for possession of LSD and cocaine. Mick Jagger and John Phillips are in attendance. Keith Richards pleads not guilty and is found not guilty of possession of LSD but guilty of possession of cocaine. He is fined but no jail sentence is given. 

What is on trial is the same thing that’s always been on trial. Dear old them and us. I find this all a bit weary. I’ve done my stint in the fucking dock. Why don’t they pick on the Sex Pistols?  

-Keith Richards