LONDON (AP) 鈥� The Rolling Stones are back, and they've brought a few famous friends.
鈥淗ackney Diamonds,鈥� the band's first album of new songs in 18 years, features guest appearances from the likes of Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. Poignantly, it also features Charlie Watts, the stalwart after almost six decades in the band. His drumming, recorded in 2019, features on two of the album's dozen tracks, with Steve Jordan playing on the rest.
Watts' absence lent a wistful note to the excitement of surviving Stones Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood when they came to east London鈥檚 Hackney district on Wednesday to unveil the and announce its release date: Oct. 20.
Of Watts, Richards said: 鈥淥f course he鈥檚 missed incredibly. But thanks to Charlie we have Steve Jordan, who was his recommendation if anything should happen to him.鈥�
鈥淚t would have been a lot harder without Charlie鈥檚 blessing," he said.
The album reveal was executed with the swaggering showmanship the Stones are famous for. It followed a cryptic teaser campaign, in which a glittery, jagged version of the band鈥檚 iconic mouth and tongue onto the fa莽ade of landmarks in cities around the world, including New York, London and Paris.
Hard-core fans lined up in a heatwave outside the Hackney Empire, where the band members were interviewed onstage by 鈥淭he Tonight Show鈥� host Jimmy Fallon in front of dozens of sweltering journalists and a global online audience.
Inside the ornate former Edwardian musical hall where Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel once performed, Jagger, 80, Richards, 79 and Wood, 76 gave details of the Stones鈥� first studio album of new songs since 鈥淎 Bigger Bang鈥� in 2005. The band released a set of blues covers, 鈥淏lue & Lonesome,鈥� in 2016.
The lead single is called 鈥淎ngry,鈥� but Jagger said not all the songs are furious. The album also contains 鈥渓ove songs, ballads, country-type鈥� sounds, he said.
Recorded in December and January at studios around the world, the album sees the Stones team up with Grammy-winning producer Andrew Watt, who helped assemble the starry guest list, which also includes former Stone Bill Wyman.
Jagger said Lady Gaga 鈥� who sings on "Sweet Sound of Heaven" 鈥� was recording in a next-door studio while the Stones were in Los Angeles and ended up on the album after she popped in to say hello.
鈥淪he walked in next to me and we started singing together,鈥� Jagger told The Associated Press backstage. "She sang it live and then we went in and tidied it up a bit.鈥�
The band screened the video for 鈥淎ngry,鈥� which has a classic mid-tempo crunchy Stones sound. The clip features 鈥淓uphoria鈥� star Sydney Sweeney, shown cruising LA鈥檚 Sunset Boulevard in a red convertible, past billboards of the Stones from various eras.
As to why the band waited almost two decades between albums, Richards said the timing was largely down to Jagger.
鈥淲hen you have a singer that wants to sing, you grab him and throw him in the studio,鈥� Richards told the AP. He said when they did get in the studio, the songs tumbled out with 鈥渆nergy and urgency."
Jagger joked that the long gap between albums was due to laziness.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be big-headed but we wouldn鈥檛 have put this album out if we hadn鈥檛 really liked it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e said we had to make a record we really love ourselves.
鈥淲e are quite pleased with it, we are not big headed about it, but we hope you all like it.鈥�
鈥淗ackney Diamonds鈥� is a slang term for shattered glass, and the band also teased fans with an ad in the local Hackney Gazette newspaper for a fictional glass repair business: 鈥淲hen you say gimme shelter, we鈥檒l fix your shattered windows.鈥�
Jagger said the phrase evoked 鈥渨hen you get your windscreen broken on Saturday night in Hackney and all the bits go on the street.鈥�
Richards said the band hit upon the title after 鈥渇linging ideas around the table, and we went from 鈥楬it and Run,' 鈥楽mash and Grab鈥� 鈥� and somehow between that we came up with 'Hackney Diamonds.'"
It was fitting, he said, because the Stones are a London band 鈥� though none of the members hails from Hackney.
Brazilian fan Taric Fioravanti, from Sao Paulo, was one of many who lined up to get a glimpse of the band.
鈥淚 love these guys,鈥� he said. 鈥淜eith Richards is one of the biggest guitar heroes in the history of rock music.
鈥�(And) they鈥檙e 80 years old. Most bands have stopped making new music鈥� by that age, he said.
Founded in 1962, the Stones show no signs of planning to retire. The band played a 60th-anniversary tour of Europe in 2022, and Wood said they had an American tour 鈥減enciled in鈥� for next year.
Wood said retirement would be 鈥渋mpossible.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to keep playing," he said.
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
