Keith Richards has survived drug busts, backstage confrontations and decades of rock 'n' roll excess. But in 1989, it was Donald Trump who pushed the Rolling Stones guitarist to reach for a knife.
The extraordinary incident took place during the Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels Tour, when the band arrived in Atlantic City for a major televised concert. What should have been a straightforward performance became an increasingly heated dispute over publicity, broken promises and an unwanted association with one of America's most prominent businessmen.
Richards was so furious that he pulled out a knife and drove it into a table, demanding that the situation be resolved.
It sounds like another piece of exaggerated rock mythology. Except this time, the guitarist himself confirmed it happened.
The Rolling Stones Return to the Road
By 1989, the Rolling Stones had experienced their fair share of internal problems.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had spent much of the preceding decade disagreeing over the band's future, with their increasingly strained relationship threatening to bring the group to an end.
The Steel Wheels album and accompanying tour represented a remarkable reconciliation.
It was the Stones' first major American tour since 1981, and the production was enormous. Elaborate staging, corporate sponsorship and ambitious television arrangements transformed the concerts into events on a scale few rock bands had previously attempted.
Concert promoter Michael Cohl was responsible for putting much of the operation together.
Among the tour's biggest attractions was a December 1989 performance in Atlantic City, scheduled for a pay-per-view television broadcast.
There was just one problem.
The venue arrangements involved Donald Trump, then a casino owner and property developer with a substantial presence in Atlantic City.
And the Stones wanted nothing to do with him publicly.
Donald Trump and the Concert Deal
According to Cohl's later account, securing the Atlantic City concert involved negotiations with Trump's organisation.
The arrangement offered the financial and logistical support necessary to stage the televised performance, but the band had serious reservations about its association with Trump.
Cohl recalled assuring the Stones that Trump's involvement would be kept firmly in the background.
The promoter said Trump had agreed not to turn the event into an opportunity for personal publicity or make an appearance that overshadowed the musicians.
Unfortunately, those assurances didn't survive the concert preparations.
When Cohl arrived at the venue, he discovered Trump holding a press conference in an area intended for the Rolling Stones.
The promoter confronted him and demanded that he stop.
According to Cohl, Trump initially agreed but subsequently returned to speaking with reporters.
For a band accustomed to controlling its own publicity, this was becoming a serious problem.
And backstage, Keith Richards was losing patience.
Keith Richards Pulls Out His Knife
Cohl later described the confrontation during an appearance at the Pollstar Live! conference in 2015.
He claimed that after repeated attempts to stop Trump's press conference, he was summoned back to the Rolling Stones' dressing room.
Richards had apparently heard enough.
According to the promoter, the guitarist pulled out a knife, slammed it into a table and demanded to know why Cohl hadn't dealt with the situation.
The message was clear: either Trump left the event's backstage operation, or the Stones would.
Importantly, Richards wasn't confronting Trump with the knife. The incident happened during an angry exchange with the band's promoter.
Nevertheless, Cohl understood the seriousness of the ultimatum.
He returned to Trump and warned him that the concert itself could be jeopardised unless the publicity dispute ended.
An Extraordinary Backstage Standoff
Cohl's account became even more dramatic when he described the confrontation that followed.
He claimed Trump's security personnel became involved, with one apparently preparing brass knuckles.
Concerned that the situation might turn physical, Cohl contacted the Stones' head of security.
According to his recollection, a large group of concert crew members subsequently appeared carrying various tools and equipment.
It was an extraordinary scene, if Cohl's account is accurate.
What had begun as an argument over publicity had reportedly escalated into a confrontation involving security guards, concert staff and the possibility of a major televised performance being cancelled.
Eventually, Trump left the disputed press arrangements, and the concert went ahead.
Cohl later described the episode as the night he fired Donald Trump.
His recollections provide the most detailed account of the backstage standoff, although the descriptions of security personnel and weapons are claims made by Cohl rather than independently established facts.
Keith Richards Finally Confirms the Story
For several years, the knife incident circulated as one of rock music's more extraordinary backstage anecdotes.
Then, in May 2018, Keith Richards confirmed the central detail himself.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the guitarist recalled his anger at the way Trump had been associated with the Rolling Stones concert.
Richards said the publicity had presented the show as if Trump were the main attraction, while the band's name received comparatively little prominence.
He also acknowledged taking out his knife and sticking it into the table while demanding Trump's removal from the arrangement.
It was a rare moment of anger from a musician whose famously laid-back public persona often concealed a formidable temper.
Nearly three decades after the concert, Richards clearly hadn't forgotten the incident.
An Unlikely Connection That Continued for Decades
The Atlantic City disagreement wasn't the last time the Rolling Stones found themselves associated with Donald Trump.
During Trump's presidential campaigns, his events repeatedly featured the band's 1969 song "You Can't Always Get What You Want".
The Stones publicly objected to the use of their music, but the disagreements continued.
Mick Jagger subsequently expressed bemusement at the choice of song, noting its unusually sombre character for a political rally.
The irony was difficult to miss.
Almost thirty years after a furious Keith Richards had demanded that Trump be removed from a Rolling Stones event, the band's music was still becoming entangled with him.
The Knife, the Concert and a Remarkable Piece of Rock History
Keith Richards has accumulated enough outrageous stories to fill several lifetimes.
Yet the Atlantic City incident stands apart because its central detail isn't merely a rumour passed between musicians and roadies.
The promoter who witnessed the confrontation described it publicly, and Richards later confirmed that he'd planted his knife in a table.
The surrounding standoff remains largely dependent on Michael Cohl's recollection, but the guitarist's anger is beyond serious doubt.
Contrary to some sensational retellings, Richards didn't attack Donald Trump or threaten him face-to-face with a knife.
He used the weapon to emphasise his frustration while confronting the person responsible for managing the concert arrangements.
The Rolling Stones went on to deliver their televised performance, and the Steel Wheels Tour became one of the most successful chapters in their later career.
But behind the scenes in Atlantic City, the situation had almost unravelled over something that had nothing to do with music.
For Keith Richards, apparently, a guitar wasn't always the instrument he reached for when he wanted to make a point.
Bands in this article:Rolling Stones