Stones Announce First Album of Original Material in 18 Years

Band plans launch event Wednesday on YouTube
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 23, 2023 12:01 PM CDT
Updated Sep 4, 2023 2:55 PM CDT
Ad in Local Paper Holds Clues to New Rolling Stones Album
Mick Jagger, left, Ronnie Wood, center, and Keith Richards, right, of the band 'The Rolling Stones' perform onstage during the last concert of their 'Sixty' European tour in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.   (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
UPDATE Sep 4, 2023 2:55 PM CDT

For the first time since 2005, the Rolling Stones are releasing a new studio album of original material, the group announced Monday. A launch for Hackney Diamonds is planned for Wednesday in the Hackney district of East London, Rolling Stone reports. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ron Wood will be interviewed by Jimmy Fallon in an event shown live on YouTube. "This is a truly global moment we want to share with fans around the world via YouTube," the group said Monday in a statement. Showtime is 9:30am EST at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSzJhzfDtS4, says the official tweet.

Aug 23, 2023 12:01 PM CDT

The Rolling Stones haven't confirmed that their latest album will be out soon—but there were a lot of clues in an ad placed in the Hackney Gazette, a local paper in northeast London. The ad, supposedly for a glass repair business opening a new store in September, included the names of several Stones hit. "Our friendly team promises you satisfaction," reads the ad, which can be seen here. "When you say gimme shelter we'll fix your shattered windows." The name of the business, Hackney Diamonds, is believed to be the name of the new album, which would be the band's 31st. The term is local slang for broken glass on the ground after windows are smashed in a robbery, the BBC notes.

In another clue spotted by sharp-eyed readers, the "i" in "Diamonds" is dotted with the band's tongue and lips logo. The ad said the business was established in 1962—the year the band was formed. The Hackney Diamonds website includes a link to a mailing list run by Universal Music, the Stones' label. Gazette editor Simon Murfitt says that while he knew the label had placed an ad, he wasn't aware of the band's stunt until readers started asking for souvenir copies. "It's very exciting to have such a massive band announcing their new album in our papers, especially in such a cryptic manner," he says.

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"I've always said the Rolling Stones have good taste when it comes to their local news and this just proves it," Murfitt says. The upcoming album will be the band's first since 2016's Blue and Lonesome album of covers and their first with original songs since 2005's A Bigger Bang. It will also be their first release since the death of drummer Charlie Watts in 2021, but he is believed to have recorded drum tracks for at least some of the new songs before his death. (More Rolling Stones stories.)

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