Paul McCartney is rumored to have collaborated with the Rolling Stones on their newest album, whose release date is yet to be announced.
Variety was the first to report the news, however, they reported the Beatles’ drummer, Ringo Starr, was also part of the album, which has since been disproven by a representative of the Rolling Stones, who clarified that Paul recorded a bass line for one song and Ringo wasn’t involved at all.
Instead of Ringo, the featured drummers on the album are both the Stones’ touring drummer, Steve Jordan, as well as drum recordings from Charlie Watts, who was the band’s original drummer and managed to record a number of tracks before his death in 2021.
In a 2021 interview with the Los Angeles Times, both Jagger and Richards confirmed that they were already recording music for a new album.
“We have a lot of tracks done, so when the tour’s finished we’ll assess where we are with that and continue,” Jagger said, with guitarist Keith Richards adding, “Let me put it this way, you haven’t heard the last of Charlie Watts.”
Richards added to this earlier this year, with a New Year’s Instagram post where he said, “There’s some new music on its way.”
The Stones have been working on this album for years, recording in an LA studio alongside acclaimed producer Andrew Watt, who is known to collaborate with musicians from back in the day, including Elton John, Iggy Pop, and Ozzy Osbourne.
McCartney also has some experience working with the young producer, mentioning him in a 2021 interview.
“My manager said, ‘You might like to go say hello and meet [Watt].’ So I went around for a cup of tea, and of course we ended up making a track…So that’s, that’s great fun.
“[This afternoon] I’m going over to a studio with Andrew Watt. And I said, we were working on a track. It’s exciting. I just met him and I wasn’t sure what we’d do. We just have a cup of tea or whatever. But we got talking and we got playing little guitar stuff,” Paul continued, regarding Watt’s guitar talents. “And I actually started off saying, ‘Sometimes it’s great to experiment with a chord you don’t even know.’ I say, ‘A crazy chord like …’ and I did this chord and I thought ‘Oh, that’s really crazy.’”
More recently, Paul might have hinted at him recording with the Stones in a 2023 Q&A, saying, “I’ve been recording with a couple of people, so I’m looking forward to doing even more. I’ve started working with this producer called Andrew Watt, and he’s very interesting — we’ve had some fun.”
This actually won’t be the first time the two British music icons work together. In 1967, Paul and the late John Lennon sang background vocals on the Rolling Stones’ single, “We Love You”.
The upcoming Stones album will be their 31st studio album, their first of all original material since their 2005 release, A Bigger Bang. Their latest studio release was in 2016 with Blue & Lonesome, which was a collection of blues covers.
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