The Rolling Stones celebrated the release of their highly acclaimed album “Hackney Diamonds,” their first release of new music in eighteen years, with a celebration on Thursday, October 19, in New York. With buddies, fellow musicians, actors, coworkers, and friends, the band packed the west side bar Racket NYC.

It had been 18 years since the last album and Hackney Diamonds is also Stone’s best album in 40 years. There were many guests in attendance, some of them were, Jimmy Fallon, Trevor Noah, Daniel Craig, Chris Rock, Ed Bruns, Michael Key, and so on.

The Rolling Stones dropped Blue & Lonesome in 2016 but was considered decent in the reviews. It was a simple album with blues covers. Everything was a bit lacking on that album, but not this one as it has a dynamic, engrossing feel to it.

During an interview with Sky News, The guitarist for Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood commented that the collaboration with Lady Gaga was due to them both recording at the same studio. Many reviewers have compared Gaga’s singing on Sweet Sound of Heaven to Merry Clayton’s background vocals on Gimme Shelter. Lady Gaga was also happy to have such a compliment and wrote on her Instagram, “I sang in a way I never really sang before except for with Mick.”

The Stones weren’t satisfied with just celebrating “Hackney Diamonds” release. Their goal was to prove they were roadworthy. “For one night only, The Rolling Stones!” was proclaimed by an announcer about ninety minutes into the show. Their iconic New York theme song “Shattered” was unleashed, featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Darry Jones, and Steve Jordan, along with keyboardist Matt Clifford and background vocalist Chanel Haynes.

The group went through a six-song set that featured hits like “Tumbling Dice” and “Jumping Jack Flash” from Stones as well as “Angry,” “Whole Wide World,” and “Bite My Head Off” from Hackney Diamonds.

The gospel ballad “Sweet Sounds Of Heaven” from “Hackney Diamonds” was the subject of an exciting duet between Lady Gaga and Jagger during the encore, which saw her looking stunning in a purple jumpsuit adorned with stars. The audience was enthralled by The Stones’ forty-minute show.

Following “A Bigger Bang” in 2005, “Hackney Diamonds” is THE STONES’ first studio album featuring fresh songs. Since then, THE STONES have gone on to break box office records while on a string of sold-out worldwide tours. They also released the Grammy Award-winning album “Blue & Lonesome” in 2016, which featured their brilliant renditions of many of the blues tracks that influenced their sound and peaked at number one on international album charts.

In the UK, Hackney Diamonds debuted at #1 on the Albums Chart published on 27 October 2023. The album also sold more than the rest of their top 5 combined. This also made The Rolling Stones the first band to have released chart-topping albums in the UK in six different decades.