Richard Branson has recounted a dramatic incident in which he saved the life of Keith Richards from a potential assassination attempt by a man with a gun.
Richard Branson, the 74-year-old Virgin records magnate and close friend of numerous A-List celebrities, including the Rolling Stones guitarist, proved to be a reliable ally in a time of crisis.
Recalling the incident on Virgin Radio UK on Thursday, the businessman said, “I went to the front door. There was this huge guy there and he had a gun.”
Richard Branson continued, “He went, ‘I’ve come to kill Keith Richards, he’s in your house with my wife.'”
While the command sounded preposterous, it appeared the angry man was correct – as Richard went on with his tale.
“As I was talking to him, I saw a naked Keith Richards and a naked wife running behind him across the lawn,” he recalled.
“I said, ‘Put the gun down and you can search the house’. He searched the house, he apologised, he left.”
The Virgin Airlines boss added, “About an hour later, a naked Keith Richards came back without the wife.”
The 81-year-old Richards, who has been married to model Patti Hansen since 1983, narrowly escaped harm thanks to Branson’s quick thinking. The couple shares two children, while Richards also has three children from a previous relationship with model Anita Pallenberg.