Stones roll on as Wood enters rehab

The Rolling Stones will keep their tour on track despite news guitarist Ron Wood checked into a rehabilitation clinic this week for alcohol abuse.

The band's publicist, Fran Curtis, confirmed the Stones' A Bigger Bang tour, which was already delayed because of Keith Richards's head injury in Fiji, will restart July 11 in Milan as scheduled. This leg of the tour will take the band to 21 stadiums in 11 countries, including Norway, Germany, Portugal and Spain.

Curtis said Wood will be on stage at the show:"He needs some rest, but he will definitely be fit for the first night of the European tour."

The 59-year-old musician, who celebrated his birthday June 1, has a history of alcohol problems and was also in rehab last year.

He was reportedly with Richards in April when they were vacationing with their families in the South Pacific. Richards suffered a head injury and had to be flown to a hospital in New Zealand, where he had minor surgery to relieve some pressure in his brain.

Details of the cause of the injury have never been confirmed. Some reports said the 62-year-old fell out of a palm tree.

Richards got a clean bill of health after surgery and released a statement: "Excuse me, I fell off my perch. Sorry to disrupt everyone's plans but now, it's full steam ahead."

The incident forced the band to postpone the first 15 dates of a European tour.

A Bigger Bang, launched in August 2005, has taken the Stones to Canada, the United States and many other countries throughout the world.