Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga
Jeff Curry/Getty Images; Rich Fury/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
The Rolling Stones celebrated the release of their new album with an intimate club performance in New York City, closing the show with a rousing duet with Lady Gaga while cheering on Daniel Craig, Chris Rock, Mary-Kate Olsen and others.
The rock icons performed songs from Hackney Diamonds – including the Gaga-featured “Sweet Sounds of Heaven”, first single “Angry”, “Whole Wide World” and “Bite My Head Off” hours before the album’s release on Friday morning. The Stones’ seven-track set also included familiar songs like “Tumblin Dice,” “JJ Flash” and “Shattered.”
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood played on stage like old friends, enjoying every second of the short performance as the audience watched in awe. Participants included Trevor Noah, Jimmy Fallon, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Taylor Hill, Rachel Weisz, Christie Brinkley, Ed Burns, Keegan-Michael Key, Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons, Minka Kelly, Christy Turlington and Questlove, who performed before and DJed after the Stones’ performance. Grammy-winning producer and songwriter Andrew Watt, who produced Hackney Diamonds and is best known for his work with Justin Bieber, Miley Cryus and Ozzy Osbourne, was also in attendance.
Towards the end of the show, Jagged took off his jacket and danced and sang on stage, where stunning backing musicians performed, including Steve Jordan on drums.
Gaga sang perfectly alongside Jagger and received a standing ovation from the audience. She and the band took their bows at the end of the set.
Hackney Diamonds is the band’s first album of original music since 2005’s A Bigger Bang. In 2016, they released the blues covers album Blue & Lonesome, which earned the band their third Grammy.
The rockers said they recorded 23 songs for the album and ultimately chose 12 tracks for the final cut. The songs were recorded in London, Los Angeles, New York City and the Bahamas.
Regarding the album title, Jagger said at the album launch in London: “It’s like breaking the window of your car in Hackney on a Saturday night.” He also called the album’s theme “angry and disgusted.” The band says that Charlie Watts, who died in 2021, appeared on two tracks; while original member Bill Wyman appears on Live by the Sword.