Keith Richards, guitarist for The Rolling Stones, is being honoured with a new Connecticut residents award.

Richards, who has been living in the American state since 1985, was awarded the Connecticut Governor’s Award of Excellence on Wednesday (March 5) – made to recognise creativity, passion and generosity in the area.

The musician is the first person to receive this award, and he was given a custom-designed medallion during a ceremony at The Westport Library in Westport, Connecticut. Gov. Ned Lamont, a Stones fan, praised Richards for his music career and his contributions to local charitable causes.

“Well, thank you very much. And thank you Connecticut,” Richards while accepting the award. “You kind of get lost for words with something like this around your neck. All I gotta say is, you know, I’ve been here for 40 years, and it’s been a great place for me.

“The family’s had a great life, The kids grew up great and incredibly happy about everything.”

In other Rolling Stones-related news, the band was reported to be scrapping their plans to tour across the UK and Europe in 2025.

According to The Times, the group opted against a return to touring later this year. This reportedly came following a proposed multi-million pound stop at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium being rejected, amid other shows across Europe.

In a four-star review of their latest album ‘Hackney Diamonds’, NME described it as an “absolute barnstormer”, adding: “But if ‘Hackney Diamonds’ does round off the most successful career in rock music ever, it wouldn’t be a bad place to leave it. A natural end, but definitely not a normal one.”

Elsewhere, Ronnie Wood also spoke to NME about the “explosive” songs on the album and how they would translate live. “I have complete faith. We could play the whole album, you know what I mean? But [Mick and Keith] will go, ‘Oh no Ron, that’s so ambitious’. We’re not gonna forget the back catalogue,” he said.