Billboard cover star Keith Richards talks Foreign Tongues, the Rolling Stones’ latest wave of creativity, the making of the band’s new music, and how the group has kept evolving after more than six decades. Richards reflects on the energy behind the new album, working with producer Andrew Watt, writing with Mick Jagger from different corners of the world, and the collaborative process that brings a Stones song to life. He also opens up about recording with this version of the band, honoring Charlie Watts’ legacy, Steve Jordan’s role in carrying the rhythm forward, and why capturing this era of the Rolling Stones on record mattered so much. Richards discusses what makes a producer invaluable, what it’s like working with longtime peers like Paul McCartney, and how songs develop from small ideas into finished tracks. He also teases the possibility of future touring or a residency, Richards’ perspective on the Stones’ enduring momentum, and why the creative process still fascinates him.
Keith Richards:
No, I don’t have a phone.
Joe Lynch:
Oh really. Not even a phone.
Toy Town eludes me.
If Jane wants to get in touch with me…
It doesn’t happen.
A Bigger Bang came out in 2005. Then 11 years later came the covers album, then seven years until Hackney Diamonds, and now there have been two Stones albums in three years. What’s fueling this burst of productivity?
The thing is, even though a lot of stuff didn’t come out, we still recorded a lot during those years. It was just that we didn’t feel we had an album. Sometimes you cut a lot of tracks and they’re very good, but you don’t feel they really coalesce together. There was also a lot of reissuing going on, and with this band the history is kind of strange. It comes in waves, and I just take it as it comes.
So for Foreign Tongues, how do you decide when it’s ready?
In a way, it’s a collective feeling. The fact that we were working with Andrew Watt matters because Foreign Tongues feels like a continuation of ‘Hackney Diamonds’. We still had a lot left over, and more than the songs themselves, it was the energy and the feel of it. We all felt we should pick up on that rather than just do album, tour, album, tour. So in a way, we went into a recording mode.
How much of the material was left over from Hackney?
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