Richards demands apology for poor reviews

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has demanded an apology from Swedish newspapers for their scathing reviews of the group's performance in the Scandinavian country.

Tabloids Expressen and Aftonbladet gave a thumbs down to the August 4 concert at Ullevi stadium in Gothenburg, with Expressen suggesting Richards was "superdrunk" on stage.

"This is a first!" the 63-year-old rock star wrote in a letter published by Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter.

"Never before have I risen to the bait of a bad review. But this time ... I have to stand up ... for our fans all over Sweden ... to say that you owe them, and us, an apology."

Dagens Nyheter said it received the letter from concert organiser EMA Telstar.

Company head Thomas Johansson told The Associated Press that Richards wrote the letter and gave it to him after reading translations of the Swedish reviews.

"There were 56,000 people in Ullevi stadium who bought a ticket to our concert - and experienced a completely different show than the one you reviewed," the letter said.