Rolling Stones to tour, possibly for last time
LONDON – The Rolling Stones will embark on a world tour this summer, possibly the group’s last.
British newspapers and websites are reporting that the band will hit the road Aug. 21 with a date in Boston in support of an album that will be released in the summer.
Rumours are already swirling that the tour will be a final farewell to fans.
It’s expected that the campaign will keep the band on the road for at least a year.
“It’s their biggest and best tour,” an unnamed source told Britain’s Sun tabloid. “People joke about them being wrinkly old blokes, but they are still one of the best groups live.”
Both Mick Jagger and lead guitarist Keith Richards are 61 years old. Drummer Charlie Watts is 63 and guitarist Ron Wood is 57.
Many fans expected that the band would not perform live again after the 2002 Forty Licks tour, but √± as often happens with the Stones √± the reports of the group’s demise proved premature.
Indeed, Stones-coming-to-an-end rumours have been around for decades, despite the fact that the band weathered the departure, then death, of original member Brian Jones in 1969 and the retirement of Bill Wyman in 1991.
Among the venues that the Stones will play is the new Wembley Stadium. They will reportedly be the first musicians to take to its stage when it opens in 2006.
Famed producer Don Was has been working with the band on the new album.
“Mick and Keith are writing songs together in a collaborative fashion that probably hasn’t been seen since the late ’60s,” Was told Billboard.com.
“I would say that long-time fans of the Rolling Stones will be thrilled with these results, and new fans will understand why they’re the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world.”
Was also reported that drummer Charlie Watts, who had been diagnosed with throat cancer and undergone treatment, was “playing like a lion.”
Now known as the elder statesmen of rock, the Rolling Stones were formed in 1961. They are known for hits like (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Angie, Brown Sugar and Tumbling Dice.
In 2003, they headlined a benefit for the city of Toronto to help it recover from the SARS crisis.
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