Saturday 24 January 2009

Schooldays of a Rock Star

Schooldays of a Rock Star

Bill Wyman, now in his sixties, was a member of The Rolling Stones, one of the most successful rock bands in the world. Here he tells us about his childhood.

I was one of three kids out of my primary school to get a place at grammar school. I was delighted because I liked learning, but my father wasn’t very pleased because I didn’t have to wear a uniform. The uniform was expensive, and we were very poor. Also, I had to get a bicycle because the school was a long way from where I lived.

One day, a boy from school invited me to his house. It was a lovely house – a palace compared with mine. My father said I couldn’t invite my friend back to my house. In fact I didn’t want my friends to come to my house – it was too embarrassing. We had no electricity or running water, and the toilet was in the garden.

There was no heating in the house. In winter there was ice on the inside of our bedroom windows, so getting out of bed was really hard. The only good thing about it was that we couldn’t have a bath every night. The water was too cold.

School was going well, I was about sixteen and about to take my exams. But one day my father said, “Right, I’ve had enough of you in that school. You’re leaving.”

I had to leave school and start earning some money for the family. The headmaster asked my father to let me take the exams, but he refused, and after that I couldn’t go to college.

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