Hackney Diamonds: Rolling Stones announce first studio album in nearly two decades

Band will be in Hackney, London on Wednesday 6 September to share details about the forthcoming release

Following years of speculation, The Rolling Stones have announced that a new album is on the way.

Hackney Diamonds will be the British rockers’s first studio album in 18 years.

The announcement comes shortly after the band’s teaser campaign, which saw their instantly recognisable tongue logo projected onto iconic structures in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and other major cities around the world.

Hackney Diamonds will arrive almost two decades on from their 2005 album, A Bigger Bang.

The band has recorded one other record since then, releasing Blue & Lonesome in 2016, but the blues-based album consisted of covers of artists such as Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter.

Details about the forthcoming album, including a release date, remain under wraps – but not for long.

Mick Jagger, 80, Keith Richards, 79, and Ron Wood, 76, will be in attendance at an event held on Wednesday (6 September) in Hackney, London where they will be interviewed by Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon about the new record.

The launch event will be hosted by YouTube, which will also broadcast the stream worldwide.

(Getty Images)

“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 group said in a statement on Monday (4 September).

While not much is known about the new release, at least one track on the album is reported to feature the two surviving members of the Beatles: Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

Hackney Diamonds will be the Rolling Stones’ first release since the death of Charlie Watts. The founding member and drummer – who recorded nearly every song with the band since it formed in 1962 – died in 2021.

Last autumn, the band toured with drummer Steve Jordan.

The band continue to tour regularly, with frontman Jagger – who turned 80 in July – retaining his legendary star-power on stage.

The Rolling Stones resumed their No Filter North American tour in the autumn of 2021, shortly after Watts’ death.

Last year, they commemorated their 60th anniversary with a multi-date Sixty tour of Europe.