Rolling Stones album of new songs out next month

The Rolling Stones will release their first album of new music in 18 years next month, lead singer Mick Jagger, fellow founding bandmate Keith Richards and bass guitarist Ronnie Wood announced on Sept. 6 in London.

The album, "Hackney Diamonds," is the first since the death of drummer Charlie Watts in 2019, and the first containing original material since 2005's "A Bigger Bang."

"We didn't want to make just any record and put it out," Jagger, 80, told a launch event at the Hackney Empire theatre in east London, hosted by U.S. talk show host Jimmy Fallon and livestreamed on YouTube.

"I'm not saying we're big-headed about it but we're pleased with it and we hope you all like it," the octogenarian rocker said.

The Stones' 24th studio album, set for release on Oct. 20, has 12 tracks, with the single "Angry" the first to come out.

Wood, 76, confirmed during the launch that superstar Lady Gaga features on another, "Sweet Sound of Heaven," adding she "sings really sweet" on it.

Two of the tracks were recorded with Watts in 2019. The others feature Steve Jordan, whom Watts recommended to replace him.

"Ever since Charlie's gone it's different," said 79-year-old guitarist Keith Richards of recording the new album without one of the band's founders.

"He's number four, he's missing, he's up there. Of course he's missed incredibly."

"Hackney diamonds" is English slang for the shards of glass left scattered on the ground after smash-and-grab robberies, and refers to the historically working class east London neighborhood.

"It's like when you get your windscreen broken on a Saturday night in Hackney," Jagger joked.

Throngs of people crowded outside the event venue, including those without tickets who...