KEY POINTS:
Ronnie Wood called time on one of the most high-profile benders in rock history on Thursday night when he checked in to an alcoholism clinic.
Despite his advancing years, the Rolling Stones guitarist found himself back in the spotlight after it emerged that he was holed up in his Irish mansion, drinking two bottles of vodka a day with a Russian cocktail waitress 41 years his junior.
Wood, 61, was apparently persuaded to leave his Co Kildare mansion, where he has built his own pub, by his son Jesse. The pair flew back to Britain by private jet on Wednesday night, prompting speculation that he was trying to salvage his 23-year marriage to Jo.
Wood's spokeswoman said the rocker was being helped by those closest to him in an attempt to end his alcoholism once and for all.
She added: "Following Ronnie's continued battle with alcohol, he has entered a period of rehab. His close family and friends say he is seeking help and look forward to his recovery."
The legendary hellraiser, whose history of drink and drug abuse stretches back to the 60s, has already spent six spells in rehab. He finished his most recent stint just in time to attend his daughter Leah's wedding last month.
His latest fall off the wagon made headlines worldwide following revelations that he had struck up a friendship with Ekaterina Ivanova, 20.
The Russian told friends she had fallen in love with Wood after being persuaded to model for him. The story was given added piquancy when a painting of a nude model looking remarkably like Miss Ivanova was sold for £8000 ($20,992) within minutes of going on display at Wood's Dublin art gallery.
On Thursday, her mother Irina, 48, insisted her daughter had been unfairly portrayed as a marriage-wrecker, but hinted that she was considering selling her story. A tabloid newspaper interview could command a fee of up to £250,000, industry sources believe. Speaking at her central London home, Mrs Ivanova said: "Ekaterina is OK. She says to me that she is very, very sorry. But I have to stand by her. I support what she does."
She added: "The way she is described is as a Russian waitress, but what it means is she is a bitch. Jo Wood said that she is a bitch but she is only 20 - she is just a normal girl."
Sources close to Wood have said he met Miss Ivanova while he was "boozed out of his mind" at a Soho bar, and claimed they were no more than "drinking buddies" who shared a mutual interest in art. "This is all connected with his drinking. He's drinking two bottles of vodka a day. He's not himself. She is a drinking buddy. It was a party, all of that. It's all very booze-connected," a friend said.
During Wood's 11-day incarceration at his mansion, his long-suffering wife appeared to have given up on the man with whom she has two children. Mrs Wood said: "Ronnie told me she was staying there and I said, 'OK - get on with it and have a drink, go mad. Drink your guts up'."
Although Wood stayed sober from 2003 to 2006, most of his adult life has been characterised by excess. He had to have his cocaine-ravaged nose rebuilt by surgeons, and fellow Rolling Stone Keith Richards once threatened to shoot him in a drunken argument. In 1990, Wood was warned to quit drinking or be dead within six months.
- INDEPENDENT
