NZ show may have been Richards' last

Keith Richards' wife Patti Hanson and his four children are at his bedside as concerns grow that the 62-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist may never perform live again.

Minders for Richards and his family appeared outside Auckland's Ascot Hospital yesterday to tell waiting media the ageing rocker was recovering well, but was likely to be in hospital for some time.

His son Marlon and wife Lucie, and daughters Angela, Theodora and Alexandra had joined Ms Hanson.

Richards was brought to Auckland after falling from a palm tree while holidaying in Fiji last month.

London's Sun newspaper yesterday quoted a source close to Richards who said the musician's condition was "much more serious than The Rolling Stones camp have been letting people believe".

The source claimed there were concerns among medical staff that Richards could be left brain damaged or partially paralysed by the fall, and the family had been warned Richards might never perform live again. The Rolling Stones' last show was in Wellington on April 18.

Publicists for the band had earlier rejected Herald reports Richards had undergone two brain operations, but the source told the Sun the star had suffered blackouts after a first operation - believed to have been performed on April 28 - to drain a blood clot from his skull.

New York-based publicist Fran Curtis claimed yesterday: "The first and only operation was done on Monday, May 8, and was 100 per cent successful. There was no brain damage. He continues to improve as expected."

But the Sun said doctors found Richards suffered a "complete mid-line shift" - a condition where one side of the brain collapses on to the other - after his first operation.

The second operation is understood to have been carried out by Auckland's Ascot Hospital-based neurosurgeon Edward Mee. Mr Mee could not be contacted by the Herald last night.

Fellow Stones Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood are believed to be watching Richards' progress from London, while Mick Jagger is "monitoring the situation" from the United States, the Sun said.

Richards' illness has forced Stones management to postpone Bigger Bang tour dates in Europe, a situation that would be an "absolute nightmare", said New Zealand concert promoter Brent Eccles.

The Herald attempted to speak last night with the band's UK publicist Bernard Doherty, but was not successful.

"We like your newspaper, not," he said, before hanging up.