Maneskin - the biggest group in the world. Comparable to the Rolling Stones. It's amazing that they're Italian. Maneskin - the biggest group, comparable to the Rolling Stones. It's amazing, Italians. Maneskin - the biggest group, comparable to the Rolling Stones. It's amazing, Italians.

Mick Jagger, who recently celebrated his80th birthday, says that rock will never die. On October20,18 years after their last album, the greatest rock 'n' roll band "The Rolling Stones" is releasing a new work titled "Hackney Diamonds". Among the honorary guests on the album are Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney.

"Mick Jagger, who achieved this milestone this summer, feels great. One of the lines from the song "Whole Wide World" is part of the lyrics of "Hackney Diamonds," The Rolling Stones' new album. It will be released on October20th and will become the next chapter in a history based on the cursed mythology of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and on music that, starting with blues, has defined several generations."

Mick Jagger admits that the right move was not to stay idle. "We are even in a good place to record another album: we have recorded a lot of material," adds the frontman. "I hope that next year we will release it and go on tour again, although the details, dates, and setlist are not yet determined."."

"So no one should utter the word 'last' in the presence of The Rolling Stones, whether it's about recording an album or concerts. 'We have written many songs over all these years, but we never finished them or recorded them,' says the iconic figure of the group. 'We made an effort, and the key to success was setting a clear deadline and enthusiasm'."

The Rolling Stones proved long before the advent of streaming platforms, which stripped albums of their status as artistic expression, that it is possible to be the greatest rock and roll band in the world and fill stadiums globally without releasing new songs. They spent 18 years reconsidering and changing their strategy. The fact that they toured without releasing a new album, Mick explains, is the reason we didn't really try to record new material before. But if you write songs, at some point you want to prove that you are still creative in that area. After all, being a band is not just about going out and always playing the same old songs: you want new ones.

Since December of last year until Valentine's Day, they created more than twenty songs: eleven new compositions, plus a cover of Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone," from which they took their name (we've never played it: it's the perfect conclusion to the album). We met with Jagger, Richards, and Wood a few weeks ago in London when they presented their first song "Angry" alongside Jimmy Fallon, the face of American television, at a Victorian theater. The title "Hackney Diamonds," referencing the geographical location in northeast London, reinforces their status as a symbol of Britishness, which is gradually fading after saying goodbye to Queen Elizabeth. We had a few ideas: one of them was "Hit & Run," which then turned into "Smash & Grab," Keith joked in his pirate voice. It sounds like a group of street bandits, as the diamonds in the title are not "forever." Mick clarified this metaphor and argot: "Saturday night in Hackney, a smashed car window, and shards on the sidewalk. It's not wrinkles on Keith. It's all the rock that is starting to have problems with age."

If in the golden age stars died too early due to a wild and uncontrollable life, now the end comes with the appearance in the passport. In the summer of 2021, Charlie Watts passed away. His sense of rhythm is still present in two tracks, the first recordings of which were made in 2019, "Mess It Up" and "Live By the Sword" (which also features the bass of Bill Wyman, who left the band in 1993, and Elton John's piano), but it will take time to get used to his absence, to the fact that when turning in the studio or on stage, Charlie will no longer be there, behind the drums, always with his enigmatic smile, worthy of a lord. It was very difficult, and I think it was hard for the audience too, who always saw us together with him. Steve Jordan seems to have felt immense pressure: people care little that you are a magnificent drummer; they are used to Charlie. I myself sometimes approached him and asked him not to forget a certain beat that Charlie played because I needed it, but then I realized that he also needed to bring his individuality to our music, Jagger continues.

Watts' death could have been the perfect reason to end our career after 60 years at the top of rock and roll. "After some time, we felt the desire to continue. We didn't want to give up. We could have stopped, but a tour was planned and we were all ready. Charlie himself wanted us to go on; he suggested Steve as his replacement. We carried on, it was tough, but despite everything, we had fun.

The list of super guests continues to grow. In the song "Sweet Sounds of Heaven," Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder are featured. Seeing them all together in the studio gives me chills; she sits on the floor on a carpet with lyric sheets in her hands, and when Mick asks her to play something, Stevie creates magic that smells like gospel. "How long can this go on? Is my future completely in the past?" Keith asks in the lyrics of "Tell Me Straight," the only song on the album sung in his voice. Their future is still in rock. They have a packed schedule. But what about rock? Pushed off the charts by an unstoppable wave of rap and urban music, with stars facing extinction, the genre needs to find a key, just like classical music did, to overcome the mortality of its main performers. "ABBA" experimented with avatars to give their repertoire a new perspective. Artificial intelligence could help. But that's not the technology they used in the "Angry" video: "The Rolling Stones" come to life and step out of billboards in Los Angeles that depict them in iconic moments of their career. It seems that the then-Jagger is singing the words of a new song (he doesn't realize she's angry, swearing he did nothing, can we believe that?), and the others play in sync. All of this is the work of director François Rousselet: a meticulous search for performances that used similar gestures and words to make it seem like the lip-syncing is real. I don't know if rock as a musical form has a future, whether it will last long or become a frozen form, Mick says. But there are still young people who pick up a guitar or play the drums. People always enjoy playing live instruments; it's more fun than making music with machines, and I say this as someone who has been interested in those sounds, studying the work that Stockhausen did after the war, or using artificial intelligence that sings instead of you. And if you play the guitar, you will definitely do something that will be some kind of rock. But whether it can be as popular as before, I don't know. Time will tell.

Of course, I'm surprised that the greatest rock band in the world is Italian. Those "Måneskin" who kicked off their concert tour in Las Vegas two years ago: it's strange, isn't it? Italy has a fantastic musical tradition, but it's not known for rock bands. We performed with them, they received a wonderful response from the audience and have always done well. They are a group of twenty-somethings today, and everyone expected that a British or American band would be in their place.

In Italy, he can increasingly be seen in photos posted on his Instagram profile. A tourist in Catania, among the alleys and hostels, amidst the archaeological excavations in Syracuse, picking oranges in the fields. Urban legend has it that he bought a house in Portopalo, the southernmost point of Sicily, after the island took a place in his heart that had belonged for many years to Bolgheri and Tuscany. Everyone loves Italy... I spent a lot of time in Sicily during the quarantine, and I really enjoyed it. That's why I often come back to visit. He looked great in a t-shirt.