Ron Wood, 63, the Rolling Stones guitarist whose love affair with Russian cocktail waitress Ekaterina ‘Katia’ Ivanova, 21, provided ample fodder for the tabloids a few years ago, still remembers her long after their December 2009 break-up.
In the summer of 2008, Wood left his wife of 24 years, Jo Karslake, former model and mother to daughter Leah and son Tyrone, for the young Russian cocktail waitress who was about 20 years old at the time of their tumultuous 18-month affair.
Wood has been in and out of rehab numerous times for substance abuse, and Ivanonva stated after their break-up that, at his worst, Wood drank up to a liter of spirits a day.
The musician confessed to UK newspaper the Daily Mail, that many of the lyrics in several songs from his new solo album I Feel Like Playing are about his feelings for Ivanova.
"A lot of the songs are about the relationship I was in with Katia. I was leaving home and walking out on my marriage with Jo. It was something I had to do. I don’t know what drove me to it, but I had to do it."
Guest performers on the album include Slash, Flea, Billy Gibbons, and Bobby Womack, among others.