ROLLING STONES: Tongues Are Wagging
After weeks of teasing, The Rolling Stones officially announced the details of their 25th studio album, Foreign Tongues. Set for release on July 10th in numerous configurations, including cassette, it contains 14 songs. The single "In the Stars" is available now on YouTube and other streaming services, followed by a physical release on May 15th. Also out now is "Rough and Twisted," which they released as a limited-edition "while label" vinyl last month under their alias, The Cockroaches. The album’s title is taken from a lyric in the song -- “Why don’t you teach me/ Teach me all those foreign tongues?” Recorded last spring at Metropolis Studios in West London, Foreign Tongues, like 2023's Hackney Diamonds, contains an appearance from their late drummer Charlie Watts, captured during one of his final recording sessions before his passing in 2021, as well as Paul McCartney, who played bass on "Bite My Head Off" on Hackney Diamonds, Steve Winwood, The Cure’s Robert Smith, and Red Hot Chili Peppers
drummer Chad Smith.
Mick Jagger says, “I loved doing those recording sessions in London at Metropolis. 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.”
Keith Richards adds, “The Foreign Tongues album has a continuity from Hackney Diamonds
and it was great to be working in London again, and to have that London vibe around us. It was a month of concentrated punch. To me, it's all about the enjoyment of it. I'm blessed to be able to do this and long may it last.”
And Ronnie Wood says, “The atmosphere in the room was so creative, and the whole band was on top form throughout the whole process. Very often we nailed it on the first take. I hope everyone loves it.”
Foreign Tongues was produced by Andrew Watt, who did the same for Hackney Diamonds, which Jagger tells us was a great experience. "First of all, he's like young and super enthusiastic, but he also knows The Rolling Stones music backwards. He's a guitar player, bass player, he can play any Rolling Stones song he wants. Wasn't someone that was just a pop producer that was like hot because he produced a lot of hit singles, which is great because you got a contemporary sensibility. And then when we got in the room, you know, he just made sure that everything was perfect, everyone was comfortable, but then just made sure that everyone really worked really hard. You know, there was no mucking about. And the sessions went really pretty smooth."
ROLLING STONES: Brooklyn's in the House … Again
The Rolling Stones followed up the announcement of their new album, Foreign Tongues -- on Tuesday at noon ET -- with a launch party later that afternoon at The Weylin, an opulent event space housed in the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. Like the launch party in London for their previous album, 2023's Hackney Diamonds, which was hosted by Jimmy Fallon, they turned to another late night host, albeit a retired one, Conan O'Brien, to lead them in a Q&A session.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood entered through an old vault door and took the stage while O'Brien gushed about it being the "gig of a lifetime,” and how much he loved the album. In between jokes, they managed to give a little insight into the album. Mick Jagger explained how Robert Smith of The Cure came to sing on the album, saying, “I turned up one day to do my vocals in London and there’s this bloke standing there with his back to me with a long gown on. When he turned round, he was covered in lipstick. We’d never met before and I said, ‘You are Robert Smith of The Cure!’ And he said, ‘Yeah!', That’s how collaborations work sometimes.”
Like Hackney Diamonds, Paul McCartney plays bass on one song on Foreign Tongues. Ronnie Wood joked, saying McCartney decided it was time to check an item off his bucket list so he can say, "I’ve played with the Rolling Stones. Wow!” The song that their late drummer Charlie Watts plays on is titled “Hit Me in the Head.” Jagger says they recorded it in Los Angeles, calling it a "real fast punk rocker. It’s a super fast song.” The event also included the playback of three songs -- the new single, "In the Stars," along with "Jealous Lover" and "Mr. Charm" -- and the premiere of the video for "In the Stars," which stars actress Odessa A’zion, who was in attendance, and a very young looking Jagger singing the song in a club with several other musicians.
Among those in attendance were the album's producer Andrew Watt, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, skier Lindsay Vonn, Christie Brinkley, director Baz Luhrmann, and Jason Isbell.
This was the second time the Stones have announced an album in Brooklyn under a bridge, as The Weylin sits next to the Williamsburg Bridge. The first time was in 1997 for Bridges to Babylon, which was held alongside the Brooklyn Bridge. Foreign Tongues will be released on July 10th. And while Conan O'Brien got to ask the questions this time around and not Jimmy Fallon, the host of The Tonight Show will be speaking with the band over three nights this week and next -- Mick Jagger on Wednesday; Keith Richards on Thursday; and Ronnie Wood next Wednesday, May 13th.
FOO FIGHTERS: Grohl Talks Past, Band Plays on Colbert
Foo Fighters made their final appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Monday night. Frontman Dave Grohl sat down for an interview with Colbert, and he talked about his drive around Ireland that inspired him to start the band, the relationships he has with his long-time bandmates, the various Nirvana reunions he's done, his daughter Violet starting her music career and more. The Foos played "Caught in the Echo" for the broadcast and also did "Window" as a web exclusive. Check them out on YouTube.
STEVIE NICKS: Grand Dame of the Ball
Stevie Nicks was one of the performers Monday night at the Met Gala inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She kicked off her four-song set with "Landslide" featuring
Sabrina Carpenter, then did "Gypsy" and "Edge of Seventeen" before Sabrina joined her on the late Christine McVie's Fleetwood Mac song "Don't Stop" with the help of a 12-person choir.
This was Stevie's second recent performance of "Don't Stop," after last month at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which was the first time she'd done it in 15 years. And since the Met Gala is all about fashion as it benefits the Museum's Costume Institute, Stevie walked the red carpet in a custom midnight blue and black Zara gown designed by John Galliano. The very wide skirt was topped with a velvet and silk taffeta jacket, and Stevie completed the look with one of her signature top hats. For her four-song set she wore a vintage Morgane LeFay
dress and Margi Kent jacket.
METALLICA, STRIPES & PURPLE: Licks to Test By
When it comes to guitarists shopping for new guitars, amplifiers or to test related equipment, the lick that gets played the most, at least in Guitar Center stores, is the one from Metallica's "Master of Puppets." The chain's CEO Gabe Dalporto tells Rolling Stone, "We went out to our stores leadership with a survey and said, ‘Write your most overplayed songs and tell us about any anecdotes, whatever you have. It actually turned out to be a really consistent list. What you see is, across stores, across regions, people are generally playing this type of song.”
Metallica placed two songs in the Top 10 with "Enter Sandman" at six. Nirvana was the only other act with two songs -- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at four and "Come as You Are at nine.
The complete Top 10 is as follows:
1.Metallica – “Master of Puppets”
2.Guns N’ Roses – “Sweet Child O’ Mine”
3.The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”
4.Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
5.John Mayer – “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”
6.Metallica – “Enter Sandman”
7.Tool – “Schism”
8.Ozzy Osbourne – “Crazy Train”
9.Nirvana – “Come As You Are”
10.Deep Purple – “Smoke on the Water”
What surprised Dalporto were the songs or artists that failed to make the list, including Jimi Hendrix, Pearl Jam, and Led Zeppelin, whose "Stairway to Heaven" was mocked in Wayne's World for being overplayed in guitar shops. Guitar Center even went along with the "mockery" by displaying signs warning customers not to play it. The "ban" ended last year when musician and YouTuber Døvydas — who’d made his own bit out of playing the riff in public — invited
Dalporto to officially lift the ban by playing “Stairway to Heaven” together, which they did.
The Who Releases Live "You Better You Bet" From Upcoming "Live At Eden Project"
As we draw closer to the upcoming release of the new Who live album, "Live at Eden Project," the legendary band has given fans a taste of what's to come. The performance version of "You Better You Bet" from their July 2023 performance at Cornwall's iconic Eden Project has been released. The complete album comes out May 29. Check out the new live recording of the Who performing "You Better Your Bet" now on YouTube.
QUEEN: Daffodil Rhapsody
Last October, Queen guitarist Brian May was one of many volunteers in the village of Elsted near where he lives to plant over 3,000 daffodil bulbs on the grounds of the local church.
Just last month he was back out there, tending to them, but his desire to plant them on the village green has been blocked by the local parish council. He says, “We’re struggling to imagine how 18-inch stalks could obstruct anyone’s view, especially when the green is normally surrounded by parked vehicles, including a seven-foot high ice cream van. For now, we are reluctantly cancelling my orders for the bulbs.”
he council has responded, saying they “fully understand that this will be disappointing” for those who support May’s plan. “However, the council has a responsibility to balance the community initiatives with safety, accessibility and the long-term management of the village green for all users. “It was also recognized that Church Green and the village green are two very different areas — the former with its tree coverage is more amenable to daffodil planting.”The council provided alternative planting spots, but they were “not accepted.”
This is not May's first daffodil plan that's gone awry. The ones that were planted in October were believed to be subtle cream and pale yellow blooms, but they came up bright yellow.
May says it was a "supply error," and he adds that at first he was "disappointed … but the more I look at our result, the more I think it was somehow meant to be. These very traditional, ‘natural’ narcissus flowers look pretty splendid, waving in the sunshine, and they harmonize nicely with the pre-existing clumps around the trees.”
Living Colour, Psychedelic Furs Announce Co-Headlining Tour
A new tour is going to bring both the funk rock and the new wave of the 80s. Living Colour and Psychadelic Furs have announced a joint tour this summer, to kick off July 31 in Park City, Utah. The tour will make stops in Chicago, St. Louis and more before wrapping up with a final show September 6 in Miami Beach. A fan presale begins today with the password of FURS2026. Tickets will go on sale to the general public Friday morning at 10am local time. Visit the Furs' website for complete dates and ticket info. First ten dates of the tour:
- 7/31/2026 Park City, UT - The Amphitheater at Canyons Village
- 8/02/2026 Arvada, CO - Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities – Amphitheatre
- 8/05/2026 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
- 8/06/2026 Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
- 8/08/2026 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
- 8/09/2026 Northfield, OH - Northfield Park Racino
- 8/11/2026 Munhall, PA - Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
- 8/12/2026 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
- 8/14/2026 Buffalo, NY - Outer Harbor Live at Terminal B
- 8/15/2026 New York, NY - The Rooftop at Pier 17
IN OTHER NEWS
Van Halen, the limited-edition book from Genesis Publications with text by Alex Van Halen and photos and other materials from his archive, now has a November publication date. The deluxe version of the book is sold out, but you can pre-order one of the 1150 collector's editions at VanHalenAnthology.com.
Motley Crue, Shinedown, Jason Mraz, Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms will all perform on the season finale of American Idol, which airs May 11th on ABC.
Bill Ward of Black Sabbath posted a note on Instagram thanking fans for wishing him a happy 78th birthday today (Tuesday) and wrote, "To be honest, I never thought I'd see the day. Sometimes I've felt like I've led multiple lives and upon reflection for a moment perhaps I have."
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of their self-titled album -- nicknamed "Avocado" -- Pearl Jam have posted the electronic press kit they created for the release to YouTube for the first time.
Steve Ferrone of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Lawrence Juber of Wings will be among the performers at Get Together Now, a charity concert celebrating the late Jesse Colin Young of The Youngbloods on May 30th at the Orphean Theater in Los Angeles.
A 50th anniversary remastering of The Grateful Dead's live album Steal Your Face will be out as a two-LP set and on streaming on June 26th.
Graham Nash has now added a fall leg to his 2026 tour. It runs from September 12th in Northampton, Massachusetts through October 9th in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. He starts the summer leg on July 7th in Steamboat Springs, Colorado,
Todd Rundgren has added dates in August and September to his Damned If I Do tour. They run from August 8th in Englewood, New Jersey through August 29th in St, Louis, then it’s over to Europe from September 6th in Italy through the 21st in Amsterdam. The tour gets under way on June 11th in St. Charles, Illinois.
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr's new duet, "Home to Us," will be out on Friday. It features backing vocals from Chrssie Hynde of The Pretenders. The track appears on McCartney's new album, The Boys of Dunegeon Lane, which is out May 29th.
Bruce Springsteen, Cher, David Letterman, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Sinatra, Steven Van Zandt and Paul Shaffer have all been interviewed for a new documentary called Darlene Love: I Know Where I've Been. The film is in production.
