The Rolling Stones are in line to achieve their 14th number one album with Hackney Diamonds in the United Kingdom, following its release on October 20th.
The record, which features collaborations with Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga and Paul McCartney, is the first album of original material from The Rolling Stones since 2005’s A Bigger Bang. However, their last number one came in 2020 thanks to the reissue of 1973’s Goat’s Head Soup.
According to the Official Charts Company, The Rolling Stones are currently outselling the rest of the albums within the top ten combined. Over the weekend, the LP has already managed to shift over 55,000 chart units, which almost certainly guarantees the band another number one.
If they are successful in their quest for the top of the chart, only The Beatles will have more number one albums than The Rolling Stones. As it stands, the Fab Four have reached the landmark with 15 separate records.
Blink-182 are placed second in the midweek charts with their new album One More Time, which marks Tom DeLonge’s first LP with the band since he returned to the group. Other artists set to chart with new releases include Bombay Bicycle Club, Richard Hawley, Barry Can’t Swim and Sampha.
In a three-star review, Far Out wrote of Hackney Diamonds: “It’s impossible not to get a kick out of these elder statesmen of rock and roll putting their best collective foot forward to see what remains of their creativity. You can call Hackney Diamonds whatever you want, but you have to call it a success.”
Meanwhile, Meanwhile, The Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood recently revealed his final conversation with their late drummer Charlie Watts. In an interview, he was asked whether Watts’ “presence was felt in the studio”, which prompted him to recall his last interaction with the late drummer.
He stated. “Oh yeah, all the time. I was the last one to see Charlie in the hospital, in London, before he died. He said, ‘I want to get out of this bloody place, but until I do, will you please make sure that Steve Jordan carries the flag for me?’ And, I said, ‘Don’t worry about that. We’ve got you covered.’”
The guitarist concluded by saying: “Then he said, ‘Alright. Now get out so I can watch [Italian jockey] Frankie Dettori on the TV!’ He loved the horse racing, did Charlie.”
