Rolling Stones - Richards Won't Stop Smoking

ROLLING STONES rocker KEITH RICHARDS refuses to quit smoking - despite recently cutting back on alcohol in a bid to improve his health.

Doctors allegedly ordered the 66-year-old hard-living guitarist to give up drinking after he suffered a brain haemorrhage when he fell out of a tree during an alcohol-fuelled vacation to Fiji in 2006.

Richards was reportedly spurred on to quit after watching his bandmate Ronnie Wood, who is said to have checked into rehab for the eighth time last month (Jan10), struggle with his addiction to booze.

But Richards has no intention of stamping out his nicotine habit - because he's been lighting up on a daily basis for decades.

A source tells Britain's Daily Express, "Smoking is now Keith's one and only vice and he isn't stopping. He's done very well on the drinking front but he's been a heavy smoker since his teens and that's one pleasure he's simply not prepared to give up.

"Keith simply can't start the day properly without the cigarette."