Keith Richards Announces Charity NFT

Keith Richards is hopping on the NFT train with a new video to be auctioned off for charity. In collaboration with green NFT music platform OneOf, the video is up for sale now until January 30th through Julien’s Auctions and benefits MusiCares.

Rather than an intangible image, Richards’ contribution to cryptocurrency is a bit more concrete. The Rolling Stones guitarist is offering a signed Gibson ES-335 acoustic electric guitar, while its accompanying one-of-a-kind video, taken at Germano Studios, authenticates his signature. The NFT, minted through what OneOf calls sustainable technology, benefits music industry charity MusiCares, which provides health services to music professionals spanning physical and mental health, addiction recovery, preventative clinics, unforeseen personal emergencies, and disaster relief. Richards’ guitar is joined in the auction by items from Dolly Parton, Paul McCartney, BTS, Katy Perry, and Bono.

Launched last year, NFT platform OneOf has raised funds for the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance in partnership with United Nations Human Rights, as well as the Whitney Houston Foundation. OneOf Co-founder Adam Fell discussed the company’s collaboration with Richards in a statement.

“We are honored to be the platform to mint the first-ever Keith Richards NFT,” Fell said. “Keith is music royalty and we applaud him and his team for championing eco-friendly blockchain technology that can empower musicians for generations to come.”

Richards joins stars like Ozzy Osbourne, Snoop Dogg, and Interpol in venturing out into cryptocurrency. Of course, not everyone is convinced the blockchain technology is good for artists: Brian Eno recently referred to the trend as a way for artists to become “capitalist little assholes,” and Richard Karn backed out of his own NFT two days after announcing it.

In other Richards news, he and Mick Jagger recently said they would no longer play the Stones classic “Brown Sugar” live in order to avoid conflicts surrounding the song’s slavery-referencing lyrics.