{"id":776309,"date":"2026-05-06T02:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T02:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/776309\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T02:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T02:50:13","slug":"8-things-we-learned-at-the-rolling-stones-album-release-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/776309\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Things We Learned at the Rolling Stones Album Release Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tJust about four hours after the Rolling Stones<\/a> announced their new LP Foreign Tongues <\/a>and unveiled leadoff single \u201cIn the Stars,\u201d Conan O\u2019Brien walked onstage at the Weylin in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and addressed a packed crowd that included Leonardo DiCaprio, Christie Brinkley, Andrew Watt, Odessa A\u2019zion, and just about every single music journalist in New York City.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLet me set the stage for you,\u201d he said. \u201cIn 1962, a bunch of young men got together in London. They played small clubs, but dreamed of bigger things. Then they played slightly larger clubs, hoping that one day they\u2019d reach the big time. Sadly, that day never came. They never quite made it. I think this album is going to change things. I think this album is the one. After years of toiling and obscurity, opening for other bands like Oingo Boingo, Bananarama, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, this is their time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMoments later, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ron Wood came out for a Q&A by O\u2019Brien that was long on laughs, short on major revelations, and full of audio snafus that never quite let up. But any event featuring the Stones is still a monumental occasion. Here are eight things we learned.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTheir New Video for \u201cIn the Stars\u201d Features Odessa A\u2019zion and a De-Aged Mick Jagger<\/strong>
At the very end of the event, after many journalists and guests had already trickled out, they played the video for the new Stones single \u201cIn The Stars.\u201d It shows a radically de-aged Jagger, looking roughly like he did in the 1960s, singing the song in a club with several other musicians, none of which appeared to be the Rolling Stones. I Love LA\/Marty Supreme actress A\u2019zion appears alongside him in the video, and she excitedly watched the premiere perched next to Andrew Watt near the front of the hall.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tCharlie Watts Plays on the Album<\/strong>
In the final years of Charlie Watts\u2019s life, he recorded several new songs with the Stones that were put into the vault. Two of them, \u201cMess It Up\u201d and \u201cLive by the Sword,\u201d appeared on Hackney Diamonds. And a third track entitled \u201cHit Me in the Head\u201d was dusted off for Foreign Tongues. \u201cWe did that in L.A. with Charlie,\u201d said Jagger. \u201cIt\u2019s a real fast punk rocker. It\u2019s a super fast song.\u201d Steve Jordan plays on the rest of the songs. \u201cHe was recommended by Charlie,\u201d said Richards. \u201cCharlie passed on the baton to him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tFour of the 14 Songs Pre-Date the Sessions, Including One With Paul McCartney<\/strong>
\u201cHit Me in the Head\u201d isn\u2019t the only song that pre-dates the Foreign Tongues sessions. The album includes three others from the recent past, including one with Paul McCartney. \u201cIt would be really funny if you made him audition,\u201d O\u2019Brien joked. \u201cI think that would be hilarious.\u201d Richards said he just happened to be working at the studio next door while they made the last record. \u201cHe wanted to come by and play with the band,\u201d said Richards. \u201cHe wanted to tick that box.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBizarrely, Robert Smith Is on the Album, Too<\/strong>
Many Stones fans were stunned when the Foreign Tongues press release noted that the Cure\u2019s Robert Smith plays on the album despite their complete lack of any shared history. At the press event, Jagger explained how it happened. \u201cI turned up one day to do my vocals in London, and there\u2019s this bloke standing there with his back to me and this long gown on,\u201d said Jagger. \u201cWhen he turned around, it was covered in lipstick. I said, \u2018I\u2019ve never met you before, but you\u2019re Robert Smith of the Cure.\u2019 He said, \u2018Yeah!\u2019 I said, \u2018While you\u2019re here, we better go and do something.\u2019 He sings a backing vocal.\u201d O\u2019Brien joked that maybe it wasn\u2019t actually Smith. \u201cYou find it later he was there to fix the air conditioner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Album Was Recorded in London in Just Four Weeks<\/strong>
Much like 2023\u2019s Hackney Diamonds, the Stones and Andrew Watt put the album together in just one month. \u201cWe used to spend months and months in the studio and never leave,\u201d Jagger said, \u201cwhich is another way of doing it.\u201d They cut most of Hackney Diamonds in America, but this one was made in London. They told O\u2019Brien they wanted to capture \u201cthe London vibe.\u201d \u201cWe call it leafy Chiswick,\u201d said Jagger, referring to a posh West London neighborhood. \u201cWe weren\u2019t really in the center of the East End or anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Studio Was Very Tiny<\/strong>
\u201cWe worked in the studio before,\u201d said Jagger, referring to Metropolis Studios.\u00a0\u201cIt used to be an old power station. But we never actually recorded in this room. The room is quite small. It was big enough, but not huge. You didn\u2019t have to move your eyes to see everyone. You can see exactly what everyone is doing. You can see what they\u2019re thinking. That room really worked out for us. The sound was really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKeith Richards Isn\u2019t a Master of the Mic
<\/strong>Throughout the entire press event, it was only possible to make out roughly 65 percent of what Richards said. This was partially because of his accent, steady chuckle, and the terrible echo in a former bank building, which now hosts large events, but largely due to him moving the mic away from his mouth while he spoke. At one point, O\u2019Brien grew so frustrated that he shoved his own mic in front of Richards\u2019 mouth. \u201cWe\u2019ll get you a better mic next time,\u201d said O\u2019Brien, \u201cor we can glue that to your face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s Not Even a Tiny Hint of a Tour<\/strong>
Ever since Steel Wheels back in 1989, a new Stones album meant a large stadium tour all across the globe. But they cancelled a planned European run in 2025, and pulled another<\/a> one initially scheduled for this summer. It\u2019s been nearly two years since they\u2019ve played live in any capacity, and no signs point to one happening any time soon. The topic of live work didn\u2019t come up during the O\u2019Brien event. And Jagger, Richards, and Ronnie Wood are going on Fallon on separate nights this week to promote the album. It doesn\u2019t look like they\u2019re even going to do one song live during this promotional run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s possible their concert days are behind them, and they\u2019re a studio band now. It\u2019s also possible there\u2019s a run of dates coming in the near future they just haven\u2019t announced yet. Hey Fallon, if you\u2019re reading this, ask at least one of them about a tour. Quite a few fans are dying to know if the greatest live band in history has quietly retired from the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just about four hours after the Rolling Stones announced their new LP Foreign Tongues and unveiled leadoff single…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":776310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[171,975,43453,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-776309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-rolling-stones","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116525362467739255","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}