Hackney Diamonds (2023)

Hackney Diamonds is the twenty-fourth British and the twenty-sixth American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 20 October 2023 on Polydor. It is the first album of original material by the Rolling Stones since 2005's A Bigger Bang and their first since the 2021 death of drummer Charlie Watts, who contributed to some tracks in 2019. Produced by Andrew Watt, it features guest contributions from Elton John, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, and former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman.

Hackney Diamonds received positive reviews, with some critics considering it the band's strongest album in decades. It was promoted by the singles "Angry", "Sweet Sounds of Heaven", and "Mess It Up". The album was backed by an extensive marketing campaign that included publicity stunts and merchandise, amongst other promotions.

Hackney Diamonds reached number one in 20 countries, including the UK, Austria, Australia, Greece, Argentina, the Netherlands and Germany. It was the 14th Rolling Stones album to top the UK Albums Chart, in its first week and again on 22 December, making it the first Rolling Stones Christmas number one album. It was certified gold in several countries and certified platinum in Austria, France, and Germany. The Rolling Stones embarked on the Hackney Diamonds Tour in support of the album in 2024. The album won the award for Best Rock Album at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards.

Recording

The Rolling Stones had last released a studio album in 2016 with the blues covers album Blue & Lonesome whose sessions began with the band working on new original material recorded with Don Was but stalled. Some mitigating factors identified by guitarist Keith Richards include vocalist Mick Jagger's lack of enthusiasm for making new music and Richards being forced to adapt his playing style due to arthritis. Although the band had released their last album of original material, A Bigger Bang, in September 2005, they continued to release occasional tracks such as "Doom and Gloom" and "One More Shot" for the compilation GRRR! in 2012 and the 2020 single "Living in a Ghost Town" during the COVID-19 pandemic. For years, they toured, but when they met up as a group, it was only to rehearse for future performances, not record. The group again recorded sessions for a new album starting in 2020, but these were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Studio work in 2021 yielded several completed songs as well, but the band lost momentum and focus in the studio. Jagger was frustrated with the slow process of recording and proposed to Richards after their touring ended in August 2022 that they would choose 14 February 2023 as a due date for their new album. Richards credits drummer Charlie Watts's 2021 death as the impetus to become more serious about finishing an album's worth of material.

In mid-2022, Paul McCartney suggested producer Andrew Watt to guitarist Ronnie Wood to continue their work on an album and Jagger agreed, appreciating Watt's approach to producing new music from long-time acts. The band invited Watt to see them perform in Electric Lady Studios in late 2022 and he took over recording at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles by November of that year. Further recordings in late 2022 and early 2023 with Watt included McCartney playing bass guitar on two new Stones songs. Altogether, principal recording was about four weeks, followed by two weeks of overdubs, and Jagger's vocals recorded separately, only after the guitar work was finished. In June 2023, former bassist Bill Wyman announced that he had recorded with the band for the first time in 30 years based on a recommendation by Watt, and additional recordings with Elton John are included on the release. The album includes 2019 sessions that have the last studio work by Watts and the band's first studio work with drummer Steve Jordan. Final recording for the album began in December 2022, with 23 total tracks finished in January 2023 and mixing done in late February or early March. At the end, the band had enough material for a follow-up album, which vocalist Mick Jagger estimated was 75% done by the time that Hackney Diamonds was released. The recording process included multiple studios across the world and was captured by a documentary crew for the television special The Stones: Still Rolling.

News reports have indicated that the album's name is London slang for the shattered glass left behind after burglars have smashed a window to break in, Hackney being an inner-city area of London historically associated with a high crime rate. Richards stated it refers to broken glass left over in the morning after "a good Saturday night that went bad".