LONDON - Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards said in an interview published on Tuesday that he once snorted his father's ashes mixed with cocaine.

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards gestures as he appears backstage during the 22nd annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, in this March 12, 2007 file picture. [Reuters]

Richards, 63, whose fondness for drugs has been openly acknowledged for decades, was quoted by music magazine NME as saying his unusual experiment with paternally enhanced cocaine came after his father's death five years ago.

"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father. He was cremated, and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow," Richards said in the interview, which was posted on NME's Web site.

"My dad wouldn't have cared," Richards said, adding, "It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."

An NME spokeswoman told Reuters the story was genuine and not a late April Fool's joke. She said the interview would appear on newsstands across the nation starting on Wednesday.

According to the report, Richards' father, Bert, died in 2002 at the age of 84.

The veteran rocker, who underwent emergency head surgery in New Zealand last year after falling off a tree stump, also took a swipe at some of the big musical acts of today.

"Everyone's a load of crap," he said. "They are trying to be somebody else and they ain't being themselves. Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party? Load of crap, load of crap. Posers, rubbish."

Richards said he was proud of his ability to survive despite the excesses of a rock 'n' roll lifestyle.

"I was number one on the 'Who's Likely To Die' list for 10 years. I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list.

"Some doctor told me I had six months to live and I went to their funeral."

Richards' publicist in London was not immediately available for comment on the interview.