According to an interview Keith Richards did Tuesday night, it’s true: The Rolling Stones will be recording a new album. This will be the first album of new material they’ve released since 2005’s A Bigger Bang.
Richards is currently promoting his new solo album, Crosseyed Heart, which will be released Friday. However, he did slip out the following to iHeartRadio: “We were just saying, ‘We gotta get in the studio, right? Right? That’s agreed. OK boys, that’s agreed.’ Where, when – [we] scratch our heads.”
The Rolling Stones will be keeping busy next year with their tour in South America, rumored to begin in February in Chile. The latest Rolling Stones tour was their Zip Code Tour, which ran from May through July of 2015 all throughout the U.S., ending with a final performance in Quebec City, Canada. The tour was named after the album art for Sticky Fingers, which they rereleased earlier in the year.
In his interview about his new upcoming album, Richards also said the band would most likely get together after their South American tour and maybe before Christmas. Richards is currently the only band member who confirmed “definite” plans to record a new album. Earlier this year, Mick Jagger had this to say about the possibility of a new album: “It would be very nice and I’ve got a lot of new songs and songs I’ve written over the last couple of years. I’ve done really good demos for all of them, which I would love to record. So, let’s hope so.”
Though Richards has not gone on a solo tour since 1993, he has mentioned the possibility of supporting Crosseyed Hearts with another. However, the 71-year-old musician seems to have a lot on his plate, especially with the South American tour in 2016 and recording a new album with the other band members. Though 71 may sound a bit old for a rock superstar, Richards is actually the second youngest of the Stones. Mick Jagger is now 72, Charlie Watts is the oldest at 74, and Ronnie Wood is the youngest at 68. Thankfully, it seems like no amount of moss is enough to slow down these Rolling Stones.