Keith Richards beats band

Keith Richards is using his recent near-fatal head injury as an excuse to beat up his Rolling Stones bandmates.The legendary guitarist underwent brain surgery after falling out of a tree in Fiji in April, and Stones bassist Ronnie Wood says the accident has only made his friend more mischievous.He told Britain's Virgin Radio: "Keith has not calmed down, it's an act."He just severely attacks me now and is very polite to other people. He gets out of any trouble by saying 'Well I've got brain damage, you'll have to excuse me.'"Richards has also admitted the band saw the unfortunate incident as blessing in disguise, because it gave them a break from their gruelling Bigger Bang world tour.The aging rocker was flown to New Zealand for an emergency operation on his brain and a string of gigs had to be postponed by six weeks.He said: "Trust me to break the momentum, but we'd been working pretty hard and I think everybody, including the crew, didn't really mind the extra few weeks off.

"I spoke to Mick (Jagger) and he said, 'Blessing in disguise'. I said 'It was a bit painful. We won't try that again'. But hey, you know its Keith Richards."