Keith discharged, damage-free

Fans can count on Keith Richards to not fade away.

The Rolling Stones guitarist was discharged from his New Zealand hospital Wednesday, two days after undergoing one--and only one--operation to treat a "mild" injury stemming from a mishap on Apr. 27.

"Personally I would like to thank everyone at Ascot Hospital for the truly wonderful care I received," Richards said via a statement released by his New York-based publicist.

"From the doctors to the beautiful ladies who make painful nights less painful and shorter. I'm pretty much at a loss for words to express my deep gratitude. I hope I wasn't too much of a pain in the arse--after all it was my head they fixed. Many thanks Kiwis."

According to band spokeswoman Fran Curtis, Richards will continue to be an outpatient at the Auckland hospital and return regularly for checkups.

The news of the artist's release seems to put to rest rumors that Richards' spill while on vacation in Fiji was more serious than the band had initially let on. The New Zealand Herald reported earlier this week that the musician had undergone two separate surgeries with potentially extensive brain damage.

Curtis, however, was quick to shoot down the widely circulated report that the rocker's latest misadventure was a bigger bang than first thought.

"Keith Richards did not undergo a second operation," Curtis said Wednesday. "The first and only operation was done on Monday, May 8, and was 100 percent successful. There was no brain damage. He continues to improve as expected."

The statement was issued in response to the paper's claim that Richards had undergone an initial unreported surgery on Apr. 28 to stop bleeding in his skull, claiming the 62-year-old received a craniotomy for subdural hematoma, a blood clot that forms on the outer membranes of the brain, a major operation which requires drilling through and removing a portion of the skull.

The paper claimed Richards was readmitted to the hospital Monday, the day of his reported surgery, for a second operation after complaining of "major headaches" and reportedly passing out.

For her part, Curtis insisted from the get-go that Richards suffered nothing more than a mild concussion and underwent "a small operation to relieve the pressure" built up in his head. She even went one better, claiming that his condition was better than expected, as the aging wildman had already been "up and chatting, and phoning New York" since his surgery.

The alleged brain damage wasn't the only rumor the Stones camp shot down this week.

Britain's Sun tabloid claimed in a front-page report that the rocker's two daughters, 21-year-old Theodora and 19-year-old Alexandra, along with Richards' wife, Patti Hansen, had flown to New Zealand to mount a bedside vigil on behalf of their patriarch.

Curtis did confirm that the rocker's fam made the trip Down Under, but denied that any vigils were being held. Though if they were, it clearly worked.

As for concerned fans, Richards' release brings the Stones one step closer to resuming their A Bigger Bang tour, which was initially scheduled to kick off May 27. After Richards' injury, the band postponed its planned 35-gig launch to June.

Exact dates of the tour are expected to be announced later this month.