The 2012 London Olympics opening and closing ceremonies were excellent fun, but were we deprived of a chance to see the Rolling Stones perform?

Apparently so: the band's guitarist, Keith Richards revealed to Absolute Radio that they could have been one of the stars to welcome in or wave goodbye to a tremendous Olympic games. "I think there was some politics going on and technical things," the 68-year-old explained. "I don't think probably that we would be ready for it, you know. So we had to give it a miss and, anyway, with the Olympics I'd rather be in the audience than be part of it." The ceremonies included performances from Coldplay, Muse, Jessie J and The Spice Girls, but The Rolling Stones would have turned the events from great to amazing, no doubt.

Perhaps the most annoying thing is that we could have seen their reunion for free, if we were watching on the television that is. Now, the guys stand to net a cool £4m from their upcoming gigs in London and New York. "I think everybody basically keeps themselves in pretty good shape,' explained Mick Jagger, despite the band members having a combined age of 273. Tickets for gigs at the O2 in London have been selling for more than £650 each.