Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an interest in jazz at a young age and joined the band Blues Incorporated.

He also started playing drums in London's rhythm and blues clubs, where he met future bandmates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones.

In January 1963, he left Blues Incorporated and joined the Rolling Stones as drummer, while doubling as designer of their record sleeves and tour stages.

[4][5] Many of Wembley's houses had been destroyed by Luftwaffe bombs during World War II; Watts and his family lived in a prefab, as did many in the community.

[6] Watts and his family subsequently moved to Kingsbury, where he attended Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School from 1952 to 1956; as a schoolboy, he displayed a talent for art, music, cricket and football.

[12] After leaving art school, he worked as a graphic designer for an advertising company called Charlie Daniels Studios,[13] and also played drums occasionally with local bands in coffee shops and clubs.

He and Green began their musical careers together from 1958 to 1959, playing in a jazz band in Middlesex called the Jo Jones All Stars.

[14] At that time, Watts was on his way to a sojourn working as a graphic designer in Denmark, but he accepted Korner's offer when he returned to London in February 1962.

[15][16] Watts played regularly with Blues Incorporated and maintained a job with the advertising firm Charles, Hobson and Gray.

The band surprised the throng of waiting reporters by driving and playing "Brown Sugar" on the back of a flatbed truck in the middle of Manhattan traffic.

[27] In the late 1970s, he joined Ian Stewart in the back-to-the-roots boogie-woogie band Rocket 88, which featured many of the UK's top jazz, rock and R&B musicians.

[28] In the 1980s, he toured worldwide with a big band – the Charlie Watts Orchestra[29] – that included such names as Evan Parker, Courtney Pine[30] and Jack Bruce, who was also a member of Rocket 88.

[32] The couple had one daughter, Seraphina, born in March 1968, who in turn gave birth to Watts's only grandchild, a girl named Charlotte.

[34] Watts lived at Halsdon House near Dolton, a rural village in North Devon, where he owned an Arabian horse stud farm.

[38] Watts expressed a love–hate attitude towards touring,[39] stating in 2003 that he "loved playing with Keith [Richards] and the band" but "wasn't interested in being a pop idol sitting there with girls screaming".

Known for his loyalty to Shirley, Watts consistently refused sexual offers from groupies on the road; in Robert Greenfield's STP: A Journey Through America with The Rolling Stones, a documentary of the 1972 American Tour, it is noted that when the group was invited to the Playboy Mansion during that tour, Watts took advantage of Hugh Hefner's game room instead of frolicking with the women.

[43] One anecdote relates that in the mid-1980s, an intoxicated Jagger phoned Watts's hotel room in the middle of the night, asking, "Where's my drummer?"

Watts reportedly got up, shaved, dressed in a suit, put on a tie and freshly shined shoes, descended the stairs, and punched Jagger in the face, saying: "Never call me your drummer again.

"[48] On 5 August 2021, it was reported that Watts had elected to sit out the resumption of the U.S. No Filter Tour due to heart surgery and that Steve Jordan would temporarily replace him on drums.

[53][54][55] Many other celebrities and rock musicians paid tribute to Watts on his death, including Paul McCartney,[56] Ringo Starr,[57] Elton John,[58] Brian Wilson,[59] Pete Townshend,[60][61] Nick Mason,[62] Roger Daltrey,[63] the members of U2,[64] Bryan Adams,[19] Liam Gallagher,[65] Brian May,[19] Roger Taylor,[66] Kenney Jones,[67] Chad Smith,[68] Questlove,[69] Peter Criss,[70] and Max Weinberg.

[72][73] Two days after his death, Jason Isbell and Brittney Spencer dedicated a cover performance of "Gimme Shelter" to Watts.

[74] On 27 August, the band's social media accounts shared a video tribute to Watts consisting of a montage of pictures and film footage.

[22] The montage was set to the Rolling Stones' 1974 track "If You Can't Rock Me", which opens with the lines "The band's on stage and it's one of those nights ... / The drummer thinks that he is dynamite, oh yeah".

[80] To commemorate what would have been his 82nd birthday, Watts's estate launched official Facebook and Instagram accounts on 2 June 2023, saying in a statement that "Charlie was too modest to embrace social media in his lifetime" and encouraging fans to "celebrate his huge musical contribution to the world of rock 'n' roll, blues and jazz, and the wonderful man known and loved to the millions of fans around the world".

[81] In September 2023 his private book collection was set to be put up for auction; his signed first edition of The Great Gatsby was expected to fetch between £200,000–300,000.