ROLLING STONES - RICHARDS FEARS HE CURSED ERTEGUN

ROLLING STONES star KEITH RICHARDS won't let friends rub his head because he thinks that's what killed music mogul AHMET ERTEGUN. Richards met up with the Atlantic Records co-founder backstage at the Beacon Theater in New York before the Stones performed for former US President BILL CLINTON in October (06) - and fears he cursed the Turkish-born executive by letting him rub his head. Ertegun asked Richards how his head was after his fall from a tree earlier in the year, and then rubbed his friend's scalp to feel for bumps. Minutes later, the 83-year-old executive slipped and fell. He never regained consciousness and died last month (14DEC06). And superstitious Richards can't help but think he "cursed" his friend. The rocker says, "He asked me how my head was... I said, 'Have a feel, because I have a big dent on the left side.' "He was rubbing it, and we were laughing our heads off. By the time I got offstage, I'd heard what happened. "It's almost as if I cursed him. So nobody else can rub my head anymore."