The Rolling Stones are on track to secure their 14th number one album with Hackney Diamonds.
The band have produced their first album of original material in 18 years since 2005’s A Bigger Bang.
Before its release on October 20, the new music was teased online and in the form of a local newspaper advert printed in the Hackney Gazette, which appeared to be for a fictional glass repair business.
During a launch event at the Hackney Empire in east London, hosted by US talk show host Jimmy Fallon, Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, it was revealed that the new record features appearances from original member Bill Wyman, singing superstar Lady Gaga and their late drummer Charlie Watts.
Watts, who died in 2021, features on two of the tracks, and Richards said that “thanks to Charlie” the band now has drummer Steve Jordan “who was his (Watts’s) recommendation if anything should happen to him.”
The band was joined by Jordan on drums when Sir Mick and guitarists Richards and Wood travelled through Europe for their 60th anniversary tour last year, which featured stops in cities including Madrid, Milan and Munich.
Other artists who appear on the album include Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder.
To celebrate the release of Hackney Diamonds, the band played a Manhattan club gig featuring a celebrity-strewn audience of invited guests that included American actress Christie Brinkley, Elvis Costello and South African comedian Trevor Noah at Racket NYC in New York City.
According to the Official Charts Company, The Rolling Stones other chart-topping albums include Aftermath (1966), Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile On Main Street (1972) and Voodoo Lounge (1994), among others.
Elsewhere in the charts this week, pop-punk band Blink-182’s new album One More Time looks set to take the number two spot.
In September, the band announced that their tour dates in Glasgow, Belfast and Dublin would be postponed as drummer Travis Barker needed to fly back to the US to be with his wife, Kourtney Kardashian, who was taken to hospital for urgent foetal surgery.
Looking to take the third position is London indie-rock outfit Bombay Bicycle Club with My Big Day.
Meanwhile, set to come in at number four is Richard Hawley with Now Then: The Very Best Of Richard Hawley, a body of work comprising tracks that span the musician’s entire career.
Musician Barry Can’t Swim, who fuses electronic music with house and jazz, is heading for number five with his debut 11-track album When Will We Land?