At midnight ET Friday (October 20), The Rolling Stones put out their first studio album of original material in 18 years. Their 24th LP overall, Hackney Diamonds has a concise 48-minute runtime and includes 12 songs.
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To christen the project’s arrival, the band’s songwriter, guitarist, and supplemental vocalist Keith Richards visited NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Friday night, where he discussed the making of Hackney Diamonds and even whipped out his guitar for the audience. However, the person most excited to see Richards strum the instrument happened to be Fallon himself.
“I wanted to know if you could play a little guitar for everyone?” the eager host asked the Stone. “I’ll tell you why. It’s because I think you’re the greatest guitarist of all time. And I love you… you have so many great riffs and so many good beginnings of songs and tunes, I just wanted [you to] show the kids out there how it’s done.”
Though Richards jokingly noted that 1800s Spanish guitar legend Andrés Segovia Torres may disagree with Fallon’s “greatest of all time” title, he still obliged.
At the request of Fallon, he started playing the first few chords of “Honky Tonk Women” (1969), as the crowd began to clap along to the song and Fallon started to sing the lyrics. Next came “Start Me Up” (1981), which Fallon also passionately sang along to. And to finish it off, Richards played the notes to “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” which not only saw Fallon sing along once again but also saw The Tonight Show‘s band The Roots aid with drums and piano.
Richards’ appearance on the show came just two days after his bandmate Ronnie Wood visited Fallon. While there, Wood shared his beaming excitement for Hackney Diamonds and opened up about the eventual track list.
“Well, I can say it’s about time,” he said. “It feels so exciting because I’m so excited about every track on it. Every track has something to say and a different direction.”
Ultimately, it seems like The Rolling Stones think highly of Fallon, as multiple members were thrilled to chat with him surrounding their latest effort. Check out Keith Richards’ visit to The Tonight Show below.
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