Bill Wyman: ‘I’m definitely OCD and might be autistic’
Bill Wyman is afflicted with obsessive compulsive disorder and fears he may be autistic.
The former Rolling Stones bassist, 86, who quit the group 1993 after more than 30 years with the group, admitted his condition is so severe he needs things to be “perfect” and can’t stop himself straightening items such as paintings even if he’s in the middle of a vital meeting.
He told The Times: “I have to do it that way. It has to be perfect, or at least as perfect as I can get it.
“I might be autistic. I’m OCD, definitely. I’ll be in the middle of an important meeting when I have to get up and straighten a painting.
“Charlie Watts was the same.”
The Times said Bill’s quiet life now at his home in Chelsea, London, starts with a banana for breakfast, followed by tablets and a cup of tea before he starts “whatever project he is involved in”.
After lunch he goes for a walk with his stick, and watches comforting murder mysteries on TV.
He added about his daily routine: “(I’ll walk) with my stick, down to the church. I’ll sit in there for ten minutes or so because it is one of the most beautiful churches in Britain, filled with the tombs of all the people who the streets are named after.
“I’ll walk along the river, take photographs of the geese, and go home and carry on until dinner. I’ll watch ‘Columbo’, ‘Poirot’, ‘Midsomer Murders’... and then I’ll go to bed.”
Bill’s projects have included writing history books and he’s working on solo music.
He insists he has no regrets about quitting the Stones, which continued to tour in 2021 with Sir Mick, Keith, both 79, and Ronnie Wood, 75, still at the helm after the death of their drummer Charlie Watts aged 80 following a throat cancer fight.
Bill added about how none of the band thought their fame would go the distance: “When the Rolling Stones started, none of us thought it would last for more than two or three years.
“The Beatles were the same. We all thought it would be a brief adventure before we got on with our normal lives.
“Then it went on, and on, and on, and there was never time to do anything else. I had to do a solo album in bits between four-month tours, and as Charlie Watts said, being in the Rolling Stones meant five years of work and 20 years of hanging around.
“Eventually I left and wrote 11 books, formed my own band, did archaeology, photography.”
