Ronnie Wood would love to see The Rolling Stones headline Glastonbury next year.
The ‘Start Me Up’ group – who have reunited for their first studio album comprising new material in 18 years, ‘Hackney Diamonds’ – made their Glastonbury debut back in 2013, and the bassist would like them to get back to Worthy Farm in 2024 or 2025, and if not, he would settle for a reunion with his old band the Faces at the world-famous festival.
He told NME: “Me, I’d love it. I think it’s a must. If not next year, then… If not the Stones, then the Faces. It’ll be me, Rod [Stewart] and [drummer] Kenney [Jones]. That’s not out of the question, you know. I know they want to do it…”
Ronnie, 76, admits he doesn’t get to many gigs himself these days, though he’s heard good things about The 1975 and Arctic Monkeys.
He said: “I haven’t seen many live bands for a long time. Lots of people tell me about The 1975. I know Arctic Monkeys play a lot. They’re always at Glastonbury. There’s a lot of music to be grabbed out there and I just hope more people play live like we do.”
‘Hackney Diamonds’ – which arrives on October 20 – features the likes of Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, and former rival Sir Paul McCartney, 81, on the track ‘Bite My Head Off’, and Ronnie let slip that the former Beatle is on another song that had to be cut from the record but will be released at some point.
He said of teaming up with the ‘Let it Be’ hitmaker: “The school boy! He was so happy. He actually played on two tracks, one which we’ve got up our sleeve for, you know, more music to come because we cut about 23 songs and we only picked the first 12.”
Ronnie would love for the Stones to play the entire album live, but frontman Sir Mick Jagger, 80, and guitarist Keith Richards, 79, won’t allow it.
Asked how many of the new songs will make their setlist, he replied: “That’s the next thing. Next week, we’re going to see how they translate live. I have complete faith. We could play the whole album, you know what I mean? But [Mick and Keith] will go, ‘Oh no Ron, that’s so ambitious.’ We’re not gonna forget the back catalogue. There are certain songs, ‘Paint It, Black’ and ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, that have got to be played. We’re only making room for, say, three or five songs.”