Rolling Stones Confirm ‘Hackney Diamonds,’ First Studio Album in Nearly Two Decades

For the Rolling Stones‘ faithful fans, a very long wait is over: The seminal rock band is back with Hackney Diamonds, their first original studio album since 2005’s A Bigger Bang.

The LP is set to debut worldwide on Wednesday with an exclusive YouTube livestream. The same event will feature Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood chatting on stage with Jimmy Fallon from the London borough of Hackney — a neighborhood “at the heart of” the new album, per the band’s official press release — about the new music and new era ahead.

The announcement followers a teaser campaign along with a sneak preview of a song, “Don’t Get Angry With Me.” Ironically, that promotion did make a few people angry, since the website where you could supposedly hear a snippet of the tune kept crashing. But YouTube, one imagines, is prepared to handle heavy demand.

Richards told Rolling Stone last year that the group’s forthcoming project would include final recordings from longtime drummer Charlie Watts, who died in 2021, and that Steve Jordan, Watts’ live replacement, was filling in elsewhere. Prior to that, the Stones had released a surprise track, “Living in a Ghost Town,” in April 2020, as Covid-19 gripped the planet. Jagger later said that the pandemic had interrupted progress toward finishing a full album.

Hackney Diamonds may also feature a guest appearance from Paul McCartney, though reports that Ringo Starr sat in on recording sessions were not substantiated.

The Rolling Stones toured Europe last summer to celebrate their 60th anniversary, and with another record around the corner, they show no sign of slowing down, despite Richards and Wood being in their late 70s and Jagger turning 80 in July. Keep an eye out for them to hit the road once more next year to support their latest release — while revisiting the classics, of course.