Following his widely reported spree with a much younger cocktail waitress, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood checked into rehab for alcoholism and is looking forward to his recovery.

A fortnight after disappearing to Ireland with a teenage Russian cocktail waitress, a spokesperson for the rock star said he is "seeking help" with his alcohol problem.

"Following Ronnie's continued battle with alcohol, he has entered a period of rehab. His close family and friends say he is seeking help and look forward to his recovery," his rep was quoted by People.com as saying.

The news comes shortly after the 61-year-old musician made headlines for leaving his wife and four children to take up with a 18-year-old cocktail waitress he met in Ireland while attending a premiere party for the Rolling Stones concert film, "Shine a light."

He nearly drove his family to despair after engaging in a 10-day alcohol binge with Ekaterina Ivanova, who is rumored to be the naked girl in Wood’s painting which is now for sale for £8,000 in a gallery near his Irish mansion.

Entitled Photography Nude 11, it is one of 60 of his paintings on show in Gallery Number One in Dublin - 20 miles from the house in County Kildare to which Wood fled with the teenager.

Up until now, Wood rejected his family’s desperate pleas for him to seek help dealing with his demons. Prior to the rock star's entering rehab, a friend of the Wood family told People that, "He's drinking two bottles of vodka a day and is obviously on some kind of bender, hanging out with this girl."

This isn't the rock star's first time seeking help for his substance abuse problem, in 2002 he checked into a clinic to undergo treatment. He told Reuters in an interview last year that his wife Jo and Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger had persuaded him to enter rehab before the band's tour. His ultimate sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle caught up with him in 1975 when due to long-term cocaine addiction he had a plastic septum inserted in his nose.

Wood's highly publicized fling with the cocktail waitress has also taken its tool on his 23 year marriage, which Jo, allegedly ended in a message she left on Wood's mobile phone.