Call it sympathy for the seniors.
In a pairing over 60 years in the making, the not-so-retiring Rolling Stones will be hitting the road in 2024 on a tour backed by the AARP.
That’s right. Mick Jagger, 80; Keith Richards, who turns 80 Dec. 18; and Ronnie Wood, 76, are throwing in with AARP, the org once known as the American Association of Retired Persons, which is sponsoring their Stones Tour ’24 Hackney Diamonds, kicking off April 28 in Houston.
The two-month stadium trek — which includes a headlining show at the New Orleans Jazz Fest on May 2 and a MetLife Stadium stop in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 23, before wrapping up in Santa Clara, California, on July 17 — is behind the Stones’ new album “Hackney Diamonds.”
The band released its first LP of original material since 2005’s “A Bigger Bang” — and its first since the 2021 death of beloved drummer Charlie Watts — in October.
Reflecting on the 18 years since their last album of new material in September, Jagger quipped, “We’ve been very lazy.”
But, he added, “We didn’t want to make just any record and put it out … Before we went in [to make ‘Hackney Diamonds’], we all said, ‘We’ve got to make a record that we really love ourselves.’ Other people may like it, other people may not. But we must say that we are quite pleased with it.”
“Hackney Diamonds” was launched with a star-studded album release party at NYC’s Racket club, where the Stones played a seven-song set including classics such as “Shattered” and “Tumbling Dice” as well as new songs “Angry,” “Whole Wide World” and “Bite My Head Off.”
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers were even joined by Lady Gaga on “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” the penultimate “Diamonds” track.
“This the first club gig we’ve done here in a long time,” said Jagger of playing the unusually small (for him) stage in Chelsea.
But the Stones — who last played North America on their No Filter tour in 2021, while gigging across Europe on their Sixty tour in 2022 — will be back to rocking the big stages that they are accustomed to in 2024.
No word yet, though, if there will be any senior discounts on those tickets.
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