Rock legends The Rolling Stones have been starting up their social media channels to tease the imminent drop of Hackney Diamonds, their first release of new material since 2005. That day has arrived.
Rolling Stones LIVE in conversation with Jimmy Fallon
September 6 will see the band with Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon at the Hackney Empire Theatre in northeast London to livestream the release of the album. The band had been dropping not-so-major media hints the past few weeks, including placing fake ads in the local Hackney Gazette newspaper, posing as a glass repair shop business.
For those unfamiliar, hackney diamonds is old East London Cockney slang referring to broken glass, and specifically to the shattered glass that results when windows are smashed during a robbery. The group's recent graphic elements have also incorporated the iconic tongue logo, projected on several worldwide landmarks including the Empire State Building and the Tate Gallery.
Hackney Diamonds tongue logo projections on the Empire State Building in NYC and the Tate Gallery in London
While any news surrounding the Stones is noteworthy, two milestones stand out with this release. Charlie Watts, the Stones' drummer since the band's inception in 1962, passed in 2021. While he was replaced by longtime associate Steve Jordan for their road tours in late 2021 and 2022, word is that Watts was involved in the process of recording te album.
Additionally, former Beatle Paul McCartney has also contributed, but contrary to rumor, his bandmate Ringo Starr is not featured. McCartney visited Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in Los Angeles in 2022 during the mixing of the album and laid down his bass playing in the studio there. The 12-song list gives no indication which one McCartney lent his talents to.
The Rolling Stones onstage in Hyde Park, London, July 3, 2022
Of course, it's not been a complete 18-year drought since the group last cut a new album. Blue and Lonesome was an all-covers release in 2016, and they were nominated for Best Rock Song at the 2014 Grammys for "Doom and Gloom" from their greatest hits compilation GRRR! (They lost to McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear for "Cut Me Some Slack." Rock's greatest rivalry lives on.)
Through a press release discussing the album, the band said: "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 streaming times are:
September 6th
2:30 PM BST
6:30 AM PST
9:30 AM EST
10:30 AM BR
3:30 PM CET
10:30 PM JST
11:30 PM AEST
