The Rolling Stones show no inkling of gathering moss
Rockstars can be confusing, conflicting, and seen to be regularly contradicting each other in what older legends once called 'being dialectical'. Much like religions.
Classic rock legends Jethro Tull got it all wrong when they famously titled their 1976 album, Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! The living proof of that error is the Rolling Stones.
Last week, the Stones released the single, 'Angry', from their forthcoming album, Hackney Diamonds — their 26th studio album and with new material after 18 years — due for release on October 20.
The band was founded in 1962 and has officially turned 60. Remember, this was the year India and China seriously stopped being bhai-bhai, Abrar Alvi's Saheb, Bibi aur Ghulam with Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari and Waheeda Rahman was playing in cinemas, and Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee for Marvel Comics.
Surviving Stones members (drummer Charlie Watts passed away in 2021 aged 80) Mick Jagger and Keith Richards at 80 and 79 respectively, and Ron Wood at a sprightly 76, are still far from moss-covered.
A wizened WhatsApp forward sent to me had a picture of one-time 007 Sean Connery, who died in 2020 aged 90, walking in an oldie pic with some help. 'Don't be so proud of your youthful shenanigans' was the implied wisdom of the image.
I plan to send folks who forward me such WhatsApp messages Hackney Diamonds next month.
Jagger, Richards and Wood are living proof of how wrong Tull frontman Ian Anderson, 76 himself now, got it when he was 29 at the time Too Old… came out. Like Winston Churchill, who smoked a lot of cigars and drank enough whisky to win a World War and be voted out of 10 Downing Street before dying at the ripe age of 90, the Stones are here to keep rolling.
Beyond the
