Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger at a launch event for their new album Hackney Diamonds.Photo:DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images
DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images
The Rolling Stonesare back.
On Wednesday, the British rockers teamed up withJimmy Fallonat a press event in London to announce that they’re releasing their first album in 18 years.
Mick Jagger,Keith RichardsandRonnie Woodtook the stage at the Hackney Empire to talk about their album,Hackney Diamonds, with theTonight Showhost.
During the event, which was shared with fans around the world in a YouTube livestream, the band told Fallon, 48, that their new record will be released on Oct. 20 and the first single is called “Angry.”
“We wouldn’t have put out this album out if we didn’t really like it,” said Jagger, 80. “We must say that we are quite pleased with it. We’re not big headed but we hope you like it.”
The trio also opened up about what it was like recording their first album since the death of theirdrummer Charlie Watts, who joined the band in 1963 and died in August 2021 at the age of 80.
“Ever since Charlie’s gone it’s different, he’s number four,” Richards told Fallon. “He’s missing, he’s up there. Of course he’s missed incredibly.”
Richards, 79, then went on to reveal that it was Watts who actually recommended drummer Steve Jordan as his replacement in the band “if anything happened to him.”
“It was a natural progression,” said Richards of Jordan, who he revealed appears on “most” of the album’s 12 tracks. “It would have been a lot harder without Charlie’s blessing on that.”
Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on the stage at the Hackney Empire.The Rolling Stones/Youtube
The Rolling Stones/Youtube
In 2021, Jordan filled in for Watts during the American leg of The Rolling StonesNo Filter Tourwhile Watts was undergoing amedical procedure.
Watts does feature on two tracks on the record, however: “Mess It Up” and Live By The Sword", which were recorded in 2019. The band also revealed that former bassist Bill Wyman appears on one of the album’s tracks.
As for collaborations, fans can expect to hearLady Gagaon “Sweet Sound of Heaven,” a track Fallon described as “unbelievable,” while actressSydney Sweeneyappears in themusic videofor the record’s first single “Angry”.
Jimmy Fallon and Sydney Sweeney.The Rolling Stones/Youtube
She added of “Angry”, “I didn’t know it was going to be the first single but I loved it when I heard it. It’s been stuck in my head.”
Sydney Sweeney in the music video for “Angry”.The Rolling Stones/Youtube
PEOPLE spotted Sweeney as she walked back into the Hackney Empire following the announcement. She responded to a fan who said, “Welcome to Hackney,” and told her she looked beautiful, “I love it here. It’s so fun."
Also in the audience was 76-year-old Wood’s daughter Leah, 44, along with Jagger’s girlfriendMelanie Hamrick, who he has been in a relationship with since 2014.
“What an amazing event!! @hackneyempire 😎,” former ballerina Hamrick wrote alongside a series ofphotosfrom the event.
The album artwork for Hackney Diamonds.GEFFEN RECORDS
GEFFEN RECORDS
Meanwhile, Jagger explained the meaning behind “Hackney Diamonds” and revealed it’s an English slang term. “It’s like when you get your windscreen broken on a Saturday night in Hackney,” he said.
Richards added, “We were slinging ideas around we went fromHit and RunandSmash and Graband somehow we came up withHackney Diamonds, which is a variation of the both and it’s a London band.”
Other tracks on the album include “Dreamy Skies"and “Driving Me Too Hard.”
The news comes just two weeks afteran ad appeared in the local weekly East London newspaper, theHackney Gazette. The cryptic ad was supposedly to promote The Hackney Diamonds who are “specialists in glass repair.”
Stones fans quickly spotted not so subtle clues suggesting that Jagger, Richards and Wood were about to announce big news.
“Our friendly team promises you satisfaction. When you say gimme shelter, we’ll fix your shattered windows,” the ad went on to say, referencing in two short sentences two of their biggest hits, “Satisfaction” and “Gimme Shelter.”
The Rolling Stones announced their new album at the Hackney Empire, pictured here, which is in Hackney, East London.Greg Balfour Evans/Alamy
Greg Balfour Evans/Alamy
It also announced that the Hackney Diamonds planned to open their “new store” on “Mare Street, September 2023.”
The event and the ad were nods to Hackney, one of London’s poorest, yet increasingly gentrified, areas. The Hackney Empire — which is 122 years old and whereHollywood legend Charlie Chaplinperformed — is located on Mare Street, one of the local shopping areas.
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‘Hackney Diamonds’ is the first album that the Rolling Stones have released since the 2021 death of their drummer Charlie Watts (pictured third from the left with band mates Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards).Kevin Winter/Getty
The Rolling Stones' last studio album of original music wasA Bigger Bang, which was released 18 years ago in 2005.
Jagger joked of the nearly two-decade wait during the launch, “We were maybe a bit lazy.”
source: people.com
