Ronnie Wood to tour without Stones

Jan 19, 2010, 10:13 GMT

Ronnie Wood plans to embark on a solo tour this year.

The 62-year-old rocker wants to perform a series of concerts in 2010 without his Rolling Stones bandmates because he is "determined" to put his eventful personal life behind him and focus on his music career after the group decided against scheduling any live dates for the foreseeable future.

A source said: "Ronnie was banking on the Stones getting back together but while that's off the agenda for now he's still determined to start performing live again in the very near future."

The past few months have been very eventful for Ronnie, who split from his 21-year-old cocktail waitress girlfriend Katia Ivanova.

Their 15-month romance - which began when he walked out on wife of 23 years Jo Wood - ended after he was cautioned for common assault following a drunken public row between the pair.

Ronnie is now working hard to make his upcoming shows a success and is searching for musicians to join him on stage.

The source told the Daily Express newspaper: "He will have no trouble putting a band together. He knows his music has been overshadowed by his personal life and he wants to get back on track. Ronnie is a musician first and foremost and touring is in his blood."

To coincide with the string of dates, the guitarist - who was in The Faces before he joined the Rolling Stones in 1976 - will also release a new album.

The source added: "Ronnie has already recorded a new album that will come out later this year. Now he really wants to put on some show to help promote it."

Earlier this month, a spokesperson of the legendary rock group - also consisting of Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts - confirmed they had no plans to perform as a band this year following rumours they were planning to headline the world famous Glastonbury music festival in Somerset, South West England.

They said: "Following recent UK media speculation, The Rolling Stones would like to make it clear there are no plans at the moment for the band to tour in 2010."