He owns more than 1,000, though he plays only a few on stage. But as Keith Richards’ love affair with the guitar remains undimmed, his fingers are not quite what they used to be.
The Rolling Stones guitarist struggles with arthritis, which has affected the way he plays. “Funnily enough, I’ve no doubt it has, but I don’t have any pain: it’s a sort of benign version,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I think if I’ve slowed down a little bit it’s probably due more to age.
“And also, I found that interesting, when I’m like, ‘I can’t quite do that any more,’ the guitar will show me there’s another way of doing this. Some finger will go one space different and there’s a whole new door just opened here.”
Richards, 79, was speaking as the band releases Hackney Diamonds, its first studio album of original material in 18 years. The decision to return to the studio, he said, came when Mick Jagger suggested it at the end of the band’s 60th anniversary tour last year. “And for the first time it hit me in the right spot,” says Richards. “Because I’ve always wanted to record the band as soon after they get off of the road as possible, because then the band is lubricated.”
Track titles such as Angry and Live by the Sword suggest it’s an antagonist album – and the album’s title is London slang for the beads of shattered glass on the street after a smash-and-grab. “Mick writes the lyrics,” Richards said.
“But he’s got some angst in him and I said, ‘Well, let’s use it because the singer has to want to sing the material’.
“Mick, given a song that he’s not really interested in, can really make it bad. And that’s maybe one of the reasons it took 18 years, because Mick’s waves of enthusiasm come and go.”
They tried to keep the album as “simple as possible”, he said. “And we actually cut this record to be a vinyl record, with a cover, and a plastic thing that you pull out and put on the turntable.”
Of vinyl, he said: “It’s by far the best sound if you really want to listen to a record. I mean, digital is toy town. You use synthesisers. Now we have AI, which is even more superficial, artificial.”
Guest artists on the album include Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder. “Which is the thing that only happens when you record in LA, ha ha: guess who’s dropped by!”
“Lady Gaga is a piece of work,” added Richards. “I love working with her because she has a great attitude towards things and a great voice, and I always wanted to see her play off against Mick.”
The plan, he said, was to take it on the road next year “while everybody is still standing”.
Asked if the Rolling Stones would ever stop touring, Richards laughed. “My answer is I’m not Nostradamus. Of course it’s going to end some time, but everybody is in good fettle. There’s no particular rush.
“We’re having great fun doing this. And this is what we do.”
• This article was amended on 10 and 11 October 2023. An earlier version said that Hackney Diamonds was the first album from the Rolling Stones in 18 years. In fact it is the first studio album of original material in that time.
