Variety is reporting that almost 60 years since first meeting, it looks like the Rolling Stones and the two surviving Beatles may come together on a new Stones album.
Variety hears from multiple sources that Paul McCartney has recorded bass parts for a forthcoming Rolling Stones project being helmed by 2021 Grammy producer of the year, Andrew Watt. Ringo Starr is also slated to play on the yet-to-be-announced album.
Recording sessions took place in Los Angeles in recent weeks and, while it’s unclear which tracks will make the final cut - or whether McCartney and Starr would end up on the same song - the album’s production is nearing the mixing phase.
Frontman Mick Jagger said in 2021 that the group has “a lot of tracks done,” and guitarist Keith Richards said in a New Year’s Instagram post last month that “There’s some new music on its way.”
Watt, who shared two Grammys at the February 5 ceremony for his work with Ozzy Osbourne, has become the go-to for veteran rock acts, despite having a discography that leans heavily into pop terrain — like Justin Bieber’s “Peaches” and Dua Lipa’s “Break My Heart.” The guitar virtuoso has himself sat in with such legacy acts as Pearl Jam, Iggy Pop and, of course, Ozzy. He also boasts a close relationship with Elton John, with whom he worked on John’s “Lockdown Sessions” in 2020, which included the Dua Lipa-assisted “Cold Heart,” and the Britney Spears-John duet “Hold Me Closer” in 2021.
McCartney and Watt have worked together in the past. In a 2021 interview, he said as much, describing a meeting with the producer. “I went around for a cup of tea, and of course we ended up making a track,” said McCartney. More recently, he was asked in a Q&A posted on his official website what he was looking forward to in 2023. Said the Beatle: “I’ve been recording with a couple of people, so I’m looking forward to doing even more. I’ve started working with this producer called Andrew Watt, and he’s very interesting — we’ve had some fun.” Though he did add, “Beyond that, I don’t have anything massive planned … at the moment!”
Read more at Variety.
(Rolling Stones photo - Claude Gassian; Paul McCartney photo - © 2018 Mary McCartney)
