Charlie Watts will likely miss The Rolling Stones’ No Filter Tour this fall. The drummer, who joined The Rolling Stones in 1963, says that he is “unlikely to be available for the resumption of the tour.” Steve Jordan, who has worked closely with Keith Richards for decades, will fill in for Watts.

A spokesman for the ensemble says: “Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation. With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming.”

A note from Watts himself adds: “For once my timing has been a little off. I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while. After all the fans’ suffering caused by COVID I really do not want the many RS fans who have been holding tickets for this Tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation. I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me.”

Jordan adds in his own statement: “It is an absolute honor and a privilege to be Charlie’s understudy and I am looking forward to rehearsing with Mick, Keith and Ronnie. No-one will be happier than me to give up my seat on the drum-riser as soon as Charlie tells me he is good to go.”

Besides Richards and Mick Jagger, who cofounded The Rolling Stones with Brian Jones, Watts is the only holdover from the band’s early classic lineup. Jordan, who has worked closely with John Mayer in recent years, appeared on The Rolling Stones’ 1986 Dirty Work album and cowrote “Almost Hear You Sigh” on 1990’s Steel Wheels.

The Stones next tour will kick off in St. Louis in September 26.