As one of the original members of The Rolling Stones, it’s no surprise that musician Keith Richards has led a legendary life. Aside from being an iconic rock star, Keith is also a proud father to his five children: Marlon, Angela, Tara, Theodora and Alexandra.
In the 1970s, Keith welcomed his first three kids with model Anita Pallenberg: sons Marlon and Tara and daughter Angela. A few years after his relationship with Pallenberg ended, Keith married model Patti Hansen and the couple welcomed two daughters: Theodora and Alexandra.
Marlon worked with filmmakers Alexis Bloom and Svetlana Zill to create a documentary called Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg to tell the story of his mother’s life, which is in theaters May 3, 2024. He was inspired by a manuscript and secretly recorded interviews that Pallenberg had hidden in her home to tell the story of her life, found by his children, Ella and Orson, while the family was going through her things after her 2017 death.
“I had to sit down and have a bottle of wine. It was revelatory. She said things I had no idea about,” Marlon told PEOPLE.
Keith hasn’t spoken extensively about his children, but some are more drawn to the spotlight than others. His oldest kids, Marlon and Angela, live more private lives, while his youngest ones, Theodora and Alexandra, are the most well-known, having pursued careers in the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, his son, Tara, died at just 2 months old.
“I love my families,” Keith told the Daily Mail in 2010. “I have several — extended. And they all love each other. I’m extremely blessed with my ladies who all, thank God, get along.”
In December 2022, Keith and Hansen celebrated 39 years of marriage. Theodora wrote about their love in a post on her Instagram: “I am so proud of this family. We’ve been through a lot but the love is so strong and powerful that it carries us forever forward on a cloud of compassion and courage. I love you mom and dad. You guys are my inspiration.”
Here’s everything to know about Keith Richards’ children: Marlon, Angela, Tara, Theodora and Alexandra.
Marlon Leon Sundeep Richards, 54
Keith and Pallenberg’s older son, Marlon Leon Sundeep Richards, was born on Aug. 10, 1969, amid The Rolling Stones’ rise to fame. His upbringing was anything but traditional as he grew up on tour with Keith, Pallenberg and the band.
“Of course it was hard on him,” Keith told GQ of Marlon’s childhood. In 2017, Pallenberg spoke about those years with journalist Alain Elkann. “We were on the road a lot, traveling on tour, and I took my son everywhere,” she said. “I did not send Marlon to school until he was 8 years old. I taught him how to read and write while Keith’s mother looked after my daughter.”
In 1992, Marlon met model Lucie de la Falaise on a blind date arranged by Pallenberg, who noticed de la Falaise on the cover of Vogue Italia, according to Tatler. The two got married in 1994 and have three children: Ella Rose, Orson and Ida Violet. In 2010, the Daily Mail reported that Marlon lived in a farmhouse in England and worked as a gallery curator, graphic artist and photographer.
“It’s amazing what kids can adapt to. It all comes out in the wash,” Keith told GQ. “And anyway, we didn’t really do anything that wrong. I mean, he could have grown up the son of health-nut freaks.”
Marlon’s daughter Ella is a model who has been photographed alongside other famous kids, like Kate Moss’ daughter, Lila Moss. In 2012, Ella told Teen Vogue she shared clothes with her mom, but her father had “some really nice cashmere sweaters” she also liked to borrow.
In a 2014 interview with The Times, Keith spoke about Marlon and reflected on his parenting. “He’s bringing up his own kids in a very secure way, hands-on all the time because he never got that,” he said.
Dandelion Angela Richards, 52
Keith and Pallenberg’s daughter, Dandelion Angela Richards, was born on April 17, 1972. Her name is Dandelion, but she goes by her middle name, Angela.
Contrary to popular belief, The Rolling Stones’ song “Angie” was not inspired by Angela. In his 2010 autobiography, Life, Keith wrote that the name “Angie” just came to him while he was writing the song. “It was not about any particular person; it was a name, like ohhh, Diana,” he wrote. “I didn’t know Angela was going to be called Angela when I wrote ‘Angie.’ ”
Angela married Dominic Jennings in 1998, and the two were together for 15 years before splitting. She later got engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Graham Whitney, in 2020. The couple have two children: a daughter named Ava Melody, born in 2011, and a son named Otto Reed, born in 2014.
Keith’s second child keeps her life private and doesn’t have a public social media presence. Still, it appears she is close with her siblings. In 2019, Alexandra shared a photo of Angela with a birthday cake and a video of her dancing on Instagram. “Cheers to my favorite dancing queen today 🥂 Happy birthday sistah! Love you so,” Alexandra wrote.
Theodora posted another birthday tribute to Angela on Instagram in 2023. “You are total star shine✨ Always making everyone smile wherever you go. Your wonderful children mirror your joy and zest for life,” she wrote alongside pictures featuring Keith and Angela with her kids.
Tara Jo Jo Gunne Richards
Keith and Pallenberg’s second son, Tara Jo Jo Gunne Richards, was born on March 26, 1976. Tara died of sudden infant death syndrome two months later.
At the time of Tara’s death, Keith was on tour with The Rolling Stones in Paris. In 2015, he reflected on the loss on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, saying that hearing the news over a phone call was “such a shock.” The musician continued with a scheduled appearance to cope with the event while his family was in Geneva.
“I thought, ‘I am going to go mad unless I do this show tonight. If I don’t do something that I am supposed to do, if I just sit here with this idea, I don’t know what I’d do,’ ” Keith said, according to The Guardian.
In his 2010 autobiography Life, he opened up about his decision to go on tour right after Pallenberg gave birth. “Leaving a newborn is something I can’t forgive myself for. It’s as if I deserted my post,” Keith wrote.
Life co-author James Fox told Rolling Stone that the first time he and Keith spoke about Tara for the book, “Keith couldn’t get out more than five words.” He added, “Then we realized we had to go back to it. He told me he thought about it every week.”
Theodora Dupree Richards, 39
Theodora Dupree Richards was born on March 18, 1985, two years after Keith and Hansen married. In a 2014 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the model said she was named after her great-grandfather, Theodore Augustus Dupree.
Throughout the years, Theodora has revealed insight into her upbringing, revealing how her father’s music background influenced what was playing in their home. She joked that when she started to get into Justin Timberlake, her dad “had a stink about it.”
“It was classical music in the morning, reggae in the afternoon and rock ‘n’ roll all night. It was the Everly Brothers, Anita O’Day, Louis Prima,” she told Harper’s Bazaar.
In 2018, Theodora shared a few childhood photos of herself and her family with Interview magazine. “I really am super blessed,” she said. “My parents, they stayed together, and I love their love.”
Theodora has spent more time in the spotlight than her older siblings. She has modeled for publications like Harper’s Bazaar and British Vogue. She also hosts a monthly SiriusXM show called Off the Cuff, where she interviews some of her favorite rock stars. In 2014, she illustrated Keith’s children’s book Gus & Me: The Story of My Granddad and My First Guitar.
She also discussed her “eclectic” sense of style in a 2019 interview with DuJour. “I like a little bit of everything, from punk rock to elegance and grace,” she said. “When it comes to my style, I can be really colorful and in your face and loud, but it totally depends on my mood.” She added that her dad greatly influenced her style, and she always raided his closet.
While Theodora doesn’t share much about her personal life, she gives glimpses here and there on her Instagram account. She often posts photos with her sister, Alexandra, and nieces and nephews. The model also shares pictures of her dog, a French bulldog named Honey.
Alexandra Nicole Richards, 38
Keith’s youngest child, Alexandra Nicole Richards, was born on July 28, 1986. Today, she’s a DJ and is regularly photographed at events with her famous friends.
Despite her public life, Alexandra once described herself as “the shyest person,” saying she never really wanted to be in the spotlight. She was raised in a quiet home in Connecticut with Theodora and, in 2019, told the New York Post, “We had this little house in the woods, and we were so disconnected from the hustle and bustle.” She also described herself as “a family girl.”
That said, Alexandra got into modeling at a young age. Her first modeling job was with her sister Theodora for Tommy Hilfiger when she was 14. Two years later, she started traveling the world and walking runways, but when Alexandra turned 21, she stopped modeling and began to DJ, a skill she learned from her friend E.B. Sollis. After filling in for him one night, the two formed the duo Ebeneezer Wolf Child, and she now performs all over the world.
Aside from her music endeavors, Alexandra is committed to charity work through nonprofits such as Sphere, which helps adults with disabilities, and Project Zero, which works to protect the world’s oceans. “Charities are my passion — they really mean something at the end of the day to me,” she told the New York Post.
While she shares some of her life on Instagram, Alexandra likes to fly under the radar. “I live a very quiet life,” she said. “It’s a scary world, too, so it’s also fear that makes me not want to overly post. But if it’s something very meaningful, I’ll put it out there.”
In 2020, Alexandra told Vogue she met her husband, film director Jacques Naudé, through mutual friends, and they got engaged two years later in Turks and Caicos. They married in the fall of 2019 in a nature-inspired wedding in her parents’ backyard in Connecticut, where the New York-based couple often spend their weekends.
“We cook, make fires, create, play games, dance and read,” she said. “It’s pretty relaxing and always fun. I grew up there as well, and … it was kind of a win that it’s so close for planning purposes too.”
In March 2021, Alexandra announced that she was pregnant with her first child in an Instagram post. Her daughter, Arlowe Mae, was born in May of that year.