During the '60s and '70s, Keith Richards and his long-term girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg, were one of the most iconic couples of the music world. But when they first met, she was romantically involved with his bandmate Brian Jones.
'I've always loved the blues and Brian especially was a real blues man," Pallenberg later reminisced in an interview with The Guardian, recalling how she met Jones at a 1965 concert in Munich and went back to his hotel room. Their relationship was violent and turbulent, however. During one holiday in Morocco, Richards witnessed Jones being physically abusive towards Pallenberg and decided to intervene. He drove her to safety and the pair fell for each other. "It's said that I stole her," Richards later wrote in "Life." "But my take on it is that I rescued her."
"She had almost nothing but turbulent, abusive relationships," Richards reflected in his autobiography, noting that Jones and Pallenberg "had always been fighting, she running away screaming, being chased, in tears." Although Jones reportedly never forgave him, Richards maintained that he had done the right thing that night. "She had been used to this for so long, it was almost reassuring and normal. It's not easy to get out of those destructive relationships, to know how to end them."
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
