(Credits: Mark Seliger / The Cockroaches)
Wed 1 April 2026 12:45, UK
Mysterious posters have appeared in London, suggesting that The Rolling Stones could be returning under their old alias, The Cockroaches.
Posters popped up in the English capital for The Cockroaches, which includes a QR code that directs to a website, which simply reads, ‘Who the fuck are The Cockroaches’ in the same font as the famous ‘Who the fuck is Mick Jagger’ T-shirt and slogan.
The website shows the same Cockroaches poster, as well as a clock that is displaying the time as around 13:40pm on April 11th, 2026, which, presumably, is when the mystery will be unveiled.
Intriguingly, the landing page on The Cockroaches’ website also shows ticket stubs on a pinboard, as well as an array of records, including one that appears to be David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, as well as a telephone and a bedside cabinet full of guitar pick-ups.
The website also includes an option to sign-up to a mailing list. Upon signing up for the mailing list, it’s revealed that The Cockroaches is linked to Polydor and Universal Music Operations Ltd, which also happens to be The Rolling Stones’ record label.
After signing up for the newsletter, fans are invited to join a WhatsApp channel, which lists its address as 4 Pancras Square, Kings Cross, London, where Universal Music Group is situated.
Most tellingly, the WhatsApp channel description states, “Making their return after 49 years…”, which matches with when the legendary British band previously used The Cockroaches as their name for a pair of low-brow, secret concerts.
The Stones’ live album, El Mocambo 1977, released in 2022, captures their performances as The Cockroaches from the El Mocambo club in Toronto on March 4th and March 5th, 1977.
BBC 6 Music host Matt Everitt has also taken to Instagram to make the connection upon stumbling upon a poster in the wild, writing, “I could be falling for an elaborate April Fool’s hoax, or I could have dropped down a rabbit hole of obscure Stones folklaw, but this would appear to be some form of cryptic The Rolling Stones announcement, right?”
Providing further fuel to the theory that The Rolling Stones are readying a return is a since-deleted Instagram post, viewed by Far Out, from a prominent casting agency looking for actors to appear in a music video for the band, which they claimed was due to be filmed in London on March 30th and 31st.
(Credits: The Cockroaches)Have The Rolling Stones been recording new music?
Last year, Andrew Watt, who produced the band’s 2023 Grammy-winning album Hackney Diamond, confirmed his involvement in a new record from the band, but kept his cards close to his chest, cryptically telling Rolling Stone, “When the tongue is up in the air, you just go… I can say we did some recording together, but that’s all I can say.”
Additionally, in May 2025, in an interview with Record Collector, Marlon Richards, the son of Keith Richards, revealed of The Rolling Stones, “They’re in town right now, recording.”
Marlon continued, “They’re in Chiswick or somewhere like that; I think they’re nearly done. They still maintain these ridiculous hours: after lunch until, like, two in the morning. I’d rather be somewhere else at that time of night! Unless you’re in it, it’s pretty boring.”
When asked about what it is exactly they were recording, he replied, “I guess an album – they have enough left over from the last one.”
Notably, Metropolis Studios, one of the studios used for Hackney Diamonds, is located in Chiswick.
Far Out has reached out to a spokesperson for The Rolling Stones for comment.
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