The Rolling Stones have launched their forthcoming album Hackney Diamonds with a music video starring Sydney Sweeney.
The rock band, comprising of Mick Jagger, 80, Keith Richards, 79, and Ronnie Wood, 76, hosted an event for the album at the Hackney Empire in east London on Wednesday (6 September). Hackney Diamonds is scheduled for release on 20 October.
On stage, the “Paint It Black” band were interviewed by US talk show host Jimmy Fallon about the record, and why it’s taken them 18 years to put out a new album of original songs.
Fans were also shown a first look at the music video for “Angry”, which stars Euphoria actor Sweeney. The 25-year-old was in attendance at the event with her mother.
Speaking at the event, Sweeney said that she had “freaked out and called my family” upon being asked to appear in the video. “This is the biggest thing ever,” she said. “I didn’t know it was going to be the first single but I love the song, it’s stuck in my head.”
Speaking about the new record, Jagger joked that he and Richards had originally “thought the theme of the album should be ‘anger’”, adding: “We had a second idea, which was to make them a bit more eclectic, with ballads. So we’ve got a mixture.”
A number of other details about the album were also announced, including the titles of the other tracks and potential collaborations.
Hackney Diamonds will include two tracks featuring the late drummer and founding Rolling Stones member Charlie Watts, following his death in 2021. Keith Richards said that “ever since Charlie [has] gone”, things with the band have felt “different”.
Jagger also confirmed that original band member Bill Wyman features on one of the tracks. “We asked Bill to come in and do one track so we have the original lineup on one track,” he said.
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As for other features, the band teased a potential collaboration with Lady Gaga – although it was not clear whether they were joking or not. While previous rumours have suggested that former Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will appear on the new album, the band did not confirm or address this.
Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards at the London launch of the new Rolling Stones album ‘Hackney Diamond’
(Screenshot)
Explaining why it had taken 18 years for the group to release a new album of original songs, Jagger joked they had been doing “other things”.
“Maybe we were a bit too lazy, so we said, ‘Let’s put a deadline,’” he said. “We had this chat and said, ‘Let’s make this record at Christmas and finish it by Valentine’s Day.’”
However, Jagger said that the group were extremely proud of the record. “I don’t want to be big headed but we wouldn’t have put this album out if we hadn’t really liked it,” he said.
“We said we had to make a record we really love ourselves. We are quite pleased with it, we are not big headed about it, but we hope you all like it.”
Hackney Diamonds will be released on 20 October.