Mick Jagger has revealed that he had to convince his bandmates and label to record a new Rolling Stones album because no one had any “urgency” to make new music.
Their new studio album, Hackney Diamonds, due out on October 20, will be their first collection of original songs in 18 years and their first since the death of drummer Charlie Watts in August 2021.
The 12-track album will feature appearances from original member Bill Wyman, singing superstar Lady Gaga and their late drummer Watts.
In an interview with The Times Saturday magazine, Sir Mick said: “I was actually quite worried because there was no bloody urgency from anyone to make the record.
“Everyone seemed happy to tour every few years and do nothing the rest of the time.
“The tour used to be a promotion for the record, and the record was the focus.
“These days you make a lot of money on tour and you don’t make a lot of money on records, which means you’re still selling tickets even if you don’t have a new album to promote.
“And you end up thinking, ‘They just want to hear Paint It, Black.’ They don’t want to hear anything different. They are quite happy. Who cares about our new album?
According to the singer-songwriter, he gave his bandmates Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Steve Jordan, the band’s drummer after Watts’ death, a deadline for them to get into the studio in the fall of 2022, and a year later he wanted the album was released. to the magazine.
Sir Mick said guitarist Richards found the timing “a little optimistic” but was “very supportive” of the idea and they recorded the album in Los Angeles in three weeks.
Discussing how Lady Gaga joined the track Sweet Sounds Of Heaven, the singer recalled how he was singing in the studio when he noticed a woman sitting at his feet, who turned out to be a pop star.
“Turns out she was recording next door. I gave her the headphones and she oohed and ahhed a few times and I said, “Why don’t you sing those words?” Everything came together very quickly,” he added.
Stevie Wonder also plays keyboards on this song, and Sir Elton John plays piano on the tracks “Get Close” and “Piano”.
Sir Paul McCartney also plays bass on Bite My Head Off, a collaboration that came about when their producer Andrew Watt worked with the former Beatles.
Sir Mick admitted: “I was a little surprised that Paul actually wanted to play on this track.”
“I wrote so many punk songs for the Stones and I would never have gotten away with them, but Paul is a very open-minded person – musically,” he added.
The band’s last album of new material was 2005’s A Bigger Bang, and their last studio album, released in 2016, was Blue & Lonesome and included blues covers.
Reflecting on the band’s initial influence on American blues, he said: “We didn’t set out to do anything different. We were very preachy about the idea of bringing the blues to a wider audience and all that damn stuff because when you’re young that’s what you want to do.
“We certainly didn’t have any political message, but it was the beginning of an awareness of the need to reflect society in songs, wasn’t it?
“I guess you had Bob Dylan who popularized it with our generation.”