ADDED SCOOP: Sources say the Stones album is being produced by Grammy winner Andrew Watt. He’s very hot right now, 32 years old and in demand with every young pop star. He was born in 1990, just after the Stones released their “Steel Wheels” album.
It’s hard to believe, but the last album of original material from the Rolling Stones was the 2005 release “A Bigger Bang.” Their only release since then was “Blue and Lonesome” in 2016.
So it’s big news that the Stones, who are now a collective 4,000 years old, are recording a new album of original material.
My sources tell me Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are right now in Nassau, The Bahamas, at the famed Sanctuary Studios, getting new songs down.
This would make sense. A couple of weeks ago, Keith posted a New Year’s greeting and said, mysteriously, new music might be coming. He posed not inside a winter’s living room in Connecticut but in a sleeveless top, outside, with palm trees in the background. Hint, hint, wink, wink.
Sources in the Bahamas say Mick and Keith (not sure about Ronnie Wood, Darryl Jones, and Steve Jordan) arrive at the studio every day at 6pm and leave around midnight. And these guys are not slackers. I’ll bet they’re getting a lot done in those sessions.
A new album — which might include their number 1 single, “Living in a Ghost Town,” would make sense since the Stones will undoubtedly tour again, maybe this summer or fall. It’s not the money, you know, because they have plenty of it. Like all these legacy rockers, it’s the adrenaline rush. the love of music and the audience. They love to tour and play and travel. (I get it: who wants to stay home?) A new album would cause a ruckus for at least a couple of weeks. especially if it’s surprisingly great. We’ll cross our fingers.
PS I’m still using that picture. Charlie Watts will never be gone, really.