{"id":747111,"date":"2026-06-19T11:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/747111\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T11:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:14:10","slug":"rolling-stones-new-album-channels-spirit-of-early-toronto-gigs-says-ronnie-wood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/747111\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolling Stones’ new album channels spirit of early Toronto gigs, says Ronnie Wood"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ronnie Wood says Toronto helped start him up.<\/p>\n

Nearly 50 years after the Rolling Stones slipped into the El Mocambo under the pseudonym the Cockroaches, the guitarist still considers those legendary 1977 club gigs his \u201cinitiation\u201d into the band.<\/p>\n

Having recently joined the Stones, he recalls falling sick around that period and going to bed, only for guitarist Keith Richards and frontman Mick Jagger to raid his hotel room.<\/p>\n

\u201cMick and Keith unscrewed the screws on my door, took the door off its hinges and stole all my champagne,\u201d the 79-year-old Wood says on a virtual call from London.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey went, \u2018Oh, bless you, Ronnie. You really are ill. We\u2019ll have to drink your champagne for you.\u2019 So that\u2019s how they treated me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as the Stones prepare to drop their 25th studio album \u201cForeign Tongues\u201d on July 10, the axeman says the famed British rockers are trying to tap into the loose, ragged spirit that defined those early years.<\/p>\n

\u201cOr as I call it, \u2018more solos,\u2019 because I\u2019m playing up a storm,\u201d says Wood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Mick, I want more solos. He said, \u2018Ronnie, you\u2019ve got a solo on every bloody song!’\u201d<\/p>\n

The band released the scrappy single \u201cRough and Twisted\u201d earlier this year as a limited vinyl under the Cockroaches, reviving a moniker they used for secret club appearances in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat started in Canada,\u201d Wood notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cockroaches and the El Mocambo was a great initiation time for me. Great fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two March 1977 shows became the stuff of rock legend. Fans packed into the 300-capacity club expecting an obscure opening act for Canadian band April Wine, only to discover they were actually watching the Rolling Stones. <\/p>\n

The surrounding drama added to the lore. During the trip, Richards and then-partner Anita Pallenberg were arrested and charged with heroin possession after an RCMP raid on their room at Toronto\u2019s Harbour Castle Hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou throw in the odd bust on Keith and Anita, and oh my God, that was a heavy time in that hotel. There was a lot going on,\u201d recalls Wood.<\/p>\n

Richards was released on bail and eventually avoided serving time on the condition he perform a concert for the blind and continue addiction treatment. <\/p>\n

Asked whether the controversy affected the band\u2019s performances, Wood laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it only spiced it up. It made it better.\u201d<\/p>\n

NEW ALBUM TACKLES THE TIMES \u2014 AND TIME\u2019S PASSAGE<\/p>\n

Wood says \u201cForeign Tongues\u201d crackles with some of that same combustible energy, intent on keeping the party going.<\/p>\n

After their Grammy-winning 2023 effort \u201cHackney Diamonds\u201d \u2014 their first original album in two decades \u2014 Wood notes the band wanted to ride the wave of momentum with producer Andrew Watt. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got that energy back and that drive,\u201d he says, adding the band pumped out albums every couple years in the \u201cold days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result is a cranked-up, riff-slinging set that feels both conscious of the times and mindful of time\u2019s passage.<\/p>\n

Jagger takes a shot at \u201cmad mogul Mr. Musk\u201d on the otherwise lascivious dance number \u201cMr. Charm,\u201d while lamenting the United States\u2019 fraying ideals on country swinger \u201cRinging Hollow\u201d \u2014 \u201cLady Liberty don\u2019t look so good when she\u2019s wearing a frown,\u201d he sings.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack in Your Life,\u201d meanwhile, is a lighter-raising ballad about friends lost. Wood says he channelled his grief over the late Brian Wilson and Sly Stone, who died within days of each other last year, while recording the song\u2019s soaring guitar solo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve lost a lot of good friends lately, as well as famous people,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am blessed to still be here myself. It makes me realize that being a survivor is mind-blowing, really. And you don\u2019t know how long it\u2019s going to last.\u201d<\/p>\n

He slumps his head, pretending to croak, then bursts into laughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel lucky because most people have got bits falling off, bits dropping off of their body.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album features one of the final recording sessions by late Stones drummer Charlie Watts, who died in 2021 but appears on the track \u201cHit Me in the Head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another tribute arrives on \u201cYou Know I\u2019m No Good,\u201d a harmonica-laced cover of the Amy Winehouse hit.<\/p>\n

Wood was close with the late British soul singer, who died of alcohol poisoning in 2011, and remembers being called on more than once by her band to coax her out of her hotel room and onto the stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was always like, \u2018Oh, what am I gonna do?\u2019 And I\u2019d say, \u2018Everyone knows you\u2019ve got vodka in your water bottle. Come on, just make yourself available to do the show tonight,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut she was her own worst enemy\u2026. The drugs always get in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

KEEPING THE STONES ROLLING<\/p>\n

After surviving decades of rock-star excess, Wood says he has a renewed outlook.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 16 years clean and serene, man. And life is new for me now. I\u2019ve got two little lovely girls, Gracie and Alice,\u201d he says of 10-year-old twin daughters with his wife, Sally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re bringing a new life to me and Sally. It\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wood says he\u2019s also helped the Stones survive themselves. During some of the band\u2019s roughest years, particularly in the 1980s, he found himself mediating between Jagger and Richards when tensions threatened to split the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been a few historic moments over the years where they\u2019ve nearly separated for good,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve said, \u2018That can\u2019t happen. You\u2019ve got to stay together. I\u2019m going to put you on the phone with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says Jagger and Richards are now \u201ccloser than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taken a lot of years and a lot of hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than six decades after starting up, the Stones apparently have no plans to stop. While there isn\u2019t a tour slated for 2026, Wood says the band is eyeing the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really want to promote the album. We want a tour. We just love to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2026.<\/p>\n

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

\t\tKeep it Factual<\/p>\n

Add CityNews Toronto as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.<\/p>\n

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