“It was important for us to put out something we had cut with Charlie.”
The death of Charlie Watts devastated The Rolling Stones. The band’s longtime drummer passed away in August 2021 aged 80, after a battle with throat cancer. The remaining Stones, although saddened by the departure, kept their professional attitude and continued their highly successful “No Filter” tour.
In a recent interview with The Sun newspaper, guitarist and secondary vocalist Keith Richards stated that Watts’ death motivated the band to finally go back to the studio, saying: “It [Watts’ death] jolted us into thinking we’ve got to make a record. Then last year, we were on the road in Europe and playing Hyde Park . . . the band’s really hot with Steve Jordan working out seamlessly. Mick agreed with me about the record. We said, ‘Let’s get this thing in the studio. Let’s make this a project — go from A to B and actually finish it. There were some amazing things in the can, but we never felt like it was an album. Whereas, this time we did it all in one block and hit it — I’m still recovering!”
Though they paid tribute to Watts during the “No Filter” tour, the band wished to do it in a lasting, memorable way, which they did by adding two tracks to “Hackney Diamonds,” which feature the late drummer, as Richards put it: “it was important for us to put out something we had cut with Charlie.”
