Keith Richards: The Stones will always come first

Keith Richards will always see the Rolling Stones as his "numero uno".

The 71-year-old musician has performed with the legendary British band for more than 50 years. While the star is about to release his first solo album in 23 years next month, Keith insists the group will always be his priority.

"I only do it when the Stones go into hibernation. Unfortunately, as I was recording this and had just finished it, the Stones came out of hibernation," he laughed to Entertainment Weekly. "I had it sort of sitting back there for a couple of years, waiting for the right time. Why should I clash with myself, you know? It was looking for the right spot and the right time. Because, when the Stones work, you know, hey, that's my numero uno!"

While the band is currently on hiatus from touring, Keith has finally been able to release Crosseyed Heart. While the Brit didn't initially intend for his recordings to come together into a record, he enjoyed the laid back way that it came about.

"That's the fun of recording, especially if you're recording the way that we made this, with just Steve Jordan on drums and me on guitar, to start with," he explained. "So, you can just fly anything around the room and, if it didn't work, it didn't work, and every now and again we'd hit on something and say, 'Oh, that's what we're looking for. It was a barrel of fun actually."

While Keith loved making the album, he isn't sure he will be able to get his Stones bandmates Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts or Ronnie Wood back in the studio.

"I don't quite honestly see it happening this year," he confessed. "After we do South America in February and March, I'd love to get in the studio in April. But I know what those guys are like. When they finish a tour, they don't want to do nothing!"