The Rolling Stones welcome back original bassist Bill Wyman
After years away from the band, The Rolling Stones recently welcomed original bassist Bill Wyman back into the group. Wyman had previously retired from the band after his work on the album Steel Wheels in 1989.
Wyman had been known as one of the quiet members of the group throughout their tenure and would occasionally contribute to the songs of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Aside from his bass parts on songs like ‘Street Fighting Man’, he also wrote and sang lead on the song ‘In Another Land’ from 1967’s Their Satanic Majesties Request.
Since leaving The Stones, Wyman has kept active with a solo career, including a new solo album in 2015 entitled Back to Basics. Wyman also performed at a reunion show for the rock group The Faces, replacing the late Ronnie Lane onstage.
This reunion comes a few years after original drummer Charlie Watts’ death, passing away in 2021 after a battle with throat cancer. After meeting with the band in a California recording studio, it was revealed that Wyman is to feature on The Stones’ latest album.
The latest record is set to be a tribute to Watts’ memory and the first album since 2016’s Blue and Lonesome, which saw the band playing a handful of covers of classic blues songs such as ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’. The group’s last album of new material was A Bigger Bang in 2005.
The Stones had been working on the album for the past few years, with guitarist Ronnie Wood saying, “We are recording the new album now and we are going to LA in a few weeks to carry it on and finish it off. Charlie is on some of the tracks and drummer Steve Jordan”.
While Wyman has been seen in the studio, there has been no word if he has any plans to tour with The Stones following the album’s release. Any word on a release date for the new record is still unknown at this time.
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