LONDON – Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood checked into a London rehabilitation clinic this week for treatment of alcohol abuse, but he will join the band for the start of its European tour next month as planned, a spokeswoman said on Friday.

The European leg of the Stones’ “Bigger Bang” tour, already delayed once after bandmate Keith Richards’ mysterious accident in Fiji, will re-launch as scheduled on July 11 in Milan, Italy, publicist Fran Curtis said.

She confirmed reports that Wood, 59, had checked into an alcohol rehabilitation facility in South London this week but insisted he would be on stage and ready to perform with the band for the opening show in Milan.

She said a spokesman for Wood was accurately quoted on Wednesday by the Sun newspaper as saying, “He (Wood) needs some rest, but he will definitely be fit for the first night of the European tour.”

Wood, who has long battled drinking problems and was in rehab last year, was reportedly with Richards, 62, and their wives on vacation in Fiji in late April when Richards suffered a head injury that forced the Stones to postpone the first 15 dates of their European tour.

Details of Richards’ accident, and his subsequent medical treatment in New Zealand, have never been disclosed, but he was reported to have fallen out of a palm tree. The band announced earlier this month that he had made a “complete recovery.”