And then there were three. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood are the last Rolling Stones still rolling.
And yesterday, rock’s unholy trinity announced the release of their new album, Hackney Diamonds.
Most bands would issue a press release or perhaps quietly urge a radio station to play a song or two, but new music from the Stones? This is a major international event. This calls for general coverage on Sky News and other stations, with updates across multiple social media platforms.
On Twitter, Jagger revealed details across seven time zones as the band rented the Hackney Empire theater in London and US chat show host Jimmy Fallon flew over to interview them on this momentous occasion.
“Do you still love being in the studio together? Was it fun?’ he wondered. “Yes, yes, it’s still fun,” they assured him.
From right to left: Ronnie Wood, Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards at the Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds launch event in London
In fact, it’s so much fun that they haven’t done it in almost twenty years; their last album of new music, A Bigger Bang, was released in 2005.
“We’ve been lazy,” Mick explained. Were they concerned about how fans will receive their new music, Fallon asked? “No, we’re just crossing our fingers,” Jagger shrugged.
Onstage, the three rockers shone in hats and hair dye, sitting on sculpted red armchairs that wrapped around their tiny, fragile hips like cupcake holders.
Under a canopy of red velvet curtains, lit by red table lamps, they talked about their new “melting pot melodies” and “beautiful riffs” as if they were in a mad boudoir, a lavish crypt for the decrepit.
“I can honestly tell you I have no idea what it’s about,” Keith said of one of the new songs, which he may have written himself. Ronnie explained why guest appearances in other bands keep him young.
“You have to keep your fingers moving when you get to our age. You have to keep things moving,” he added, satisfied by the ripple of filthy giggles that rippled through the audience.
Certainly, the question of their advanced age, 235 years in all, cannot be avoided, but during a few brilliant moments on stage yesterday, the decades melted away like candle wax, their vitality and enthusiasm seemingly undiminished, writes JAN MOIR
Perhaps part of the Stones’ enduring appeal is the nurturing of the idea among their more timid male fans that they, too, could run off with cocktail waitresses and ballerinas. Or survive honky-tonk women and fall head first out of coconut palms, still journeying through life and loves at 80 and beyond.
Perhaps part of the Stones’ enduring appeal is the nurturing of the idea among their more timid male fans that they, too, could run off with cocktail waitresses and ballerinas.
It’s a powerful myth, even if you’re wondering how on earth the Stones themselves survive the emotional turmoil.
“Some are fey, some are tongue-in-cheek, some are more of a joke,” Mick said, talking about his longtime relationships with the women who—sorry, my mistake. He talked about the twelve new songs on the album.
Sure, the question of their advancing age, a total of 235 years, cannot be avoided, but during a few brilliant moments on stage yesterday, the decades melted away like candle wax, their vitality and enthusiasm seemingly undiminished.
Individually and collectively, they’re more on the ball than 80-year-old President Biden — low praise, I agree — but there’s something undeniably grand about their gritty, age-old presence.
In profile, today’s Mick, Keith and Ronnie are rock ‘n’ roll’s Mount Rushmore; Vice President Cadaver, President Wrinkle, King Corpse. But in spirit, they’re still drumming to a much younger, hipper beat.
The trio explained that the title of their new album is a slang term referring to the broken windshield of a broken-in car in Hackney. What’s the meaning? “We’re a London band,” said Keith.
Or as London as they can be, having been tax volunteers for the past fifty years.
Fans wish Sir Mick Jagger a happy 80th birthday outside the London event
These street-fighting men were no longer street during the castle purchase of old. But the blatant talkativeness of their terrible accents suggests they never left the Old Kent Road and regularly drank an infusion of eels in jelly.
Drummer Charlie Watts passed away in 2021, but through the miracle of modern technology, he features on two tracks on the new album.
Even more surprising is the presence of Bill Wyman, who left the band thirty years ago amid much bitterness and mutual accusations that he was ‘boring’. What was behind this rapprochement? We learn that Mick just called him about the dog and the bone.
“Still playing, Bill?” he asked. “Of course,” Wyman replied. And that was that.
The televised interlude ended with a video appearance of the Stones’ new single Angry, in which Mick complains that he isn’t getting enough sex. Light a light, governor. Some things never change.