Keith Richards has confirmed The Rolling Stones will not tour in 2026 but hinted that the band will hit the road next year.
READ MORE: The Rolling Stones – ‘Hackney Diamonds’ review: they’ve still got it
It comes after the rock legends officially announced their new record ‘Foreign Tongues’ earlier this month, which is set to feature guest appearances from Paul McCartney, Robert Smith, Steve Winwood and the band’s late drummer Charlie Watts.
In late 2025, the Stones scrapped plans for a UK and European stadium tour in 2026 because Richards was unable to “commit” to it.
The group embarked on their North American ‘Hackney Diamonds’ tour in 2024, with the trek landing at Number Six on the list of the highest-grossing music world tours of that year. They last played the UK in 2022, when two huge London BST Hyde Park gigs followed a stadium concert in Liverpool.
When asked now about a potential tour this year, Richards told the Associated Press: “We can talk next year. At the moment, we’re just sort of saying, we’ve finished the record… [and we’re] considering what to do after. Pretty soon, but not this year.”
If the band do tour next year it leaves questions open over whether they would headline Glastonbury in 2027. They last topped the bill at Worthy Farm in 2013, their first ever performance at the festival.
Sam Fender, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift are among the names touted to tackle the Pyramid Stage next year along with Beyoncé, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Eminem, Chappell Roan, Little Simz and Fred Again.
Oasis have also been rumoured although Liam Gallagher previously said he “hates” the Pyramid Stage as “it’s like playing to a load of jamboree teachers”.
Organisers previously confirmed that the next Glastonbury will take place between Wednesday June 23 and Sunday June 27 in 2027.
Meanwhile, The Rolling Stones’ new album will be made up of 14 tracks, including the lead single ‘In The Stars’ and the raw, bluesy ‘Rough And Twisted’, and it will be released on July 10 via Polydor/Universal Music and you can pre-order it here.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Ronnie Wood revealed that the record includes a version of Winehouse’s ‘You Know I’m No Good’ first released on her landmark second album ‘Back To Black’ in 2006.
The band also revealed how they ended up working with The Cure’s Robert Smith at a recent media event in New York. “He was standing there with his back to me and this long gown on and when he turned around, he was covered in lipstick,” Mick Jagger said. “And I said, I never met him before, ‘You’re Robert Smith of The Cure’. And he said, ‘Yeah, we’ve never met’. And I said, ‘While you’re here, you better go and do something’. That’s how collaborations work sometimes,” he added.
The whole record was brought to life in less than one month at Metropolis Studios in West London, with production from Andrew Watt – who also worked with them on 2024’s ‘Hackney Diamonds’.
“I love doing these recording sessions in London at Metropolis,” said Jagger. “It was a very intense few weeks recording ‘Foreign Tongues’. We had 14 great tracks and we went as fast as we could. I like the room there as it’s not too big so you can feel the passion in the room from everyone.”
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