The Rolling Stones are in the studio working on their next album. And, according to reports, the famed British rock band has tapped Sir Paul McCartney for assistance.
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And that’s not all! The other living Beatle, drummer Ringo Starr, has also been recruited for the project.
Variety reports that McCartney was brought in to record bass for the LP. Recording sessions are reportedly taking place in Los Angeles and Starr is also involved in the as-of-yet unannounced album. Grammy Award-winning musician Andrew Watt is reportedly at the help of the production of the LP.
American Songwriter reached out to a representative for McCartney who said the former Mop Top has no comment at this time.
In 2021, lead singer Mick Jagger told the Los Angeles Times that his band had “a lot of tracks done” and that the band would head back into the studio for more once their then-tour was finished. In that interview guitarist Keith Richards said the Stones’ late drummer Charlie Watts had recorded all his parts for the album.
The news of the collaboration between the remaining Beatles and the Stones may come as a surprise to some, given the recent (playful?) barbs exchanged between the two parties. McCartney recently joked that the Stones are basically just a blues rock cover band. The news spread as far as Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, who actually suggested McCartney should play bass with the band. Jagger also previously noted that the Stones’ are a bigger “concert band” than the Beatles ever were.
Historically, the two bands have collaborated minimally. McCartney and the late John Lennon sang some backing vocals on the Stones’ 1963 song “We Love You.” There were a few other minor collabs, but this would make the biggest one in history to date.
The Rolling Stones released their latest album in 2016, the covers album Blue & Lonesome. The band hasn’t released a full-length LP of all original songs since 2005 with A Bigger Bang.
(Photo: Mark Seliger / Courtesy of EPIX / Press Release)
