The Rolling Stones surprise fans with performance of ‘Ringing Hollow’ in London
The Rolling Stones duo Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood surprised fans at a London event with a sneak preview of their new song, ‘Ringing Hollow’.
The rock icons made the unexpected appearance, alongside longtime Stones keyboardist Matt Clifford, at an intimate launch party held at the St Clement Hotel in Aldwych.
In a social media post, The Stones wrote of the performance, “So this just happened in London… Mick and Ronnie have surprised guests at a special event, with a performance of Ringing Hollow, from the new album Foreign Tongues – out this Friday!”
Notably, Keith Richards, who lives in Connecticut rather than London like Jagger and Wood, was absent from the event, but reportedly sent a video message into the event.
‘Ringing Hollow’, which appears on The Rolling Stones’ new album, Foreign Tongues, which arrives on July 10th, has been the source of much discussion by the band in recent weeks.
In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Jagger clarified that ‘Ringing Hollow’ isn’t strictly an attack on the Donald Trump regime, explaining, “I wouldn’t say it’s only about that, it’s about America generally and your experiences of it.”
Previously, Jagger described the song as dealing with “America as an idea”, sharing to MOJO, “The American Dream is intact for some people, and I’m sure we can find some wonderful immigrant stories that happened in the last 12 months, but we read about the decline of the American Empire. Is the Iran war America’s Suez moment?”
Meanwhile, while on the topic of the song, Richards, who has primarily lived in America since the 1980s, said ‘Ringing Hollow’ is a “nostalgic love affair with America, and (it being) a bit of a disappointment at the moment.”
While Richards joked that he’s “got my steel helmet and I live in a bunker,” he did highlight the most common concern held by ordinary citizens, adding, “All you hear is the moaning about the price of gas. This is where it hurts people.”
In another recent interview, The Stones lifted the lid on how they have survived for more than 60 years with Jagger putting the secret down to their success.
The frontman honestly told Zane Lowe for Apple Music, “I think if The Rolling Stones have had a lot of failure it wouldn’t have stayed together. We’ve been very lucky and been successful a lot you know, even though not everything we’ve put out recorded wise has been brilliant.”
Foreign Tongues is out on July 10th, when the full version of ‘Ringing Hollow’ will be made available, but for now, watch the snippet below.
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