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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Nicola Slawson

Rolling Stones to release details of first album of original songs since 2005

Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards performing
The Rolling Stones performing at the last concert of their 60th anniversary European tour in 2022. Photograph: Michael Sohn/AP

The Rolling Stones are set to release details of their first studio album of original material since 2005, an LP called Hackney Diamonds.

The surviving members of the band, now in their 70s and 80s, teased the new music online and in the form of a cryptic advert in the local newspaper the Hackney Gazette.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood will be interviewed about the new material on Wednesday in Hackney, east London, by the American TV host Jimmy Fallon.

It is the first time the Stones have created an album of new material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang and the first album since the death of the band’s long-time drummer Charlie Watts in August 2021. The band’s last studio album, released in 2016, was called Blue & Lonesome and comprised blues covers.

The new album will feature a performance from Paul McCartney, with the Beatles musician playing bass on one track, as well as the band’s touring drummer Steve Jordan and recordings made with Watts before his death.

The newspaper advert included a website and a phone number, which when called responded with the automated message: “Welcome to Hackney Diamonds, specialists in glass repair. Don’t get angry, get it fixed. Opening early September, Mare Street, E8. Register for a call at hackneydiamonds.com. Come on then.”

The phrase Hackney Diamonds is old east London slang for broken glass and specifically refers to the shattered glass that results when windows are smashed during a robbery.

Discussing the album, the band said: “Hackney may be at the heart of Hackney Diamonds, but this is a truly global moment we want to share with fans around the world via YouTube.”

The Rolling Stones formed in the early 1960s. Beforehand Jagger, 80, and Richards, 79, had been in a blues band and became regular faces at a jazz club in Ealing Broadway.

According to the Official Charts Company, the band has had eight No 1 singles in the UK, including (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Paint It Black and Honky Tonk Women.

Last year Jagger and the guitarists Richards and Wood travelled through Europe for their 60th anniversary tour featuring stops in cities including Madrid, Milan and Munich, and also a performance at the British Summer Time festival in London.

Earlier this month bronze figures of Jagger and Richards were unveiled in their home town of Dartford, Kent, where the pair met in 1961.

Fans can watch the interview with Fallon on YouTube in a live-stream scheduled for 2.30pm on Wednesday.

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