Rolling Stones Foreign Tongues Album — 25th LP Drops Today
- Jul 10
- 4 min read
More than six decades into one of the most storied runs in music history, the Rolling Stones are still refusing to act their age. Foreign Tongues, the band's twenty-fifth studio album, arrived today, July 10, 2026, and it lands with the kind of swagger most bands half their age can only imitate. The 14-track collection is the follow-up to 2023's Hackney Diamonds, and early reviews suggest the Stones have once again made the case that they remain a working, vital rock and roll band rather than a heritage act coasting on catalog.
Foreign Tongues was recorded at London's Metropolis Studios with producer Andrew Watt, the Grammy-winning studio hand who has become the go-to collaborator for legacy artists looking to sound both classic and current. Watt previously steered Hackney Diamonds to critical and commercial success, and his reunion with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood picks up right where that record left off — big riffs, live-room energy, and a rhythm section that hits harder than anyone has a right to expect in 2026.
The guest list on this record reads like a rock and roll hall of fame roll call. Paul McCartney returns after his bass cameo on Hackney Diamonds, and this time he is joined by Steve Winwood, The Cure's Robert Smith, Bruno Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, and longtime Stones associates Steve Jordan and Darryl Jones. It is a sprawling cast, but by most early accounts the guests serve the songs rather than crowd them.
Perhaps the most emotional moment on Foreign Tongues involves a contributor who is no longer here. The album features a song recorded with Charlie Watts before the legendary drummer's death in 2021, giving fans one more chance to hear the steady, jazz-inflected pulse that anchored the band for nearly 60 years. For a group that has always processed loss by playing through it, the inclusion feels less like a gimmick and more like a tribute.
Fans have had a taste of the record since early May, when the band released lead single 'In the Stars' alongside the double A-side 'Rough and Twisted.' 'In the Stars' arrived with an official video that has since racked up more than five million views on YouTube, and the song's mix of widescreen balladry and late-period Jagger grit set the tone for what the full album delivers.
Critics are already weighing in. NPR's day-one review argued that Foreign Tongues 'makes the case to keep rocking,' a sentiment echoed across the rock press. The consensus forming around the record is that Watt has once again captured the band sounding loose and hungry, with Richards and Wood's guitar weave front and center and Jagger — now in his early 80s — in remarkably elastic voice.
The album is being released in a range of formats aimed squarely at collectors. Foreign Tongues is available on CD and as a 2LP vinyl set, and both come in box set editions that include a Blu-ray audio disc featuring Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround and hi-res stereo mixes. It is the kind of deluxe rollout that has become standard for major legacy releases, and Stones box sets have historically moved serious numbers.
One question that always hangs over a new Stones album is whether it will be the last. The band has been quick to shut that talk down. Reports around the release dispel any retirement rumors and assert that the Stones have already written at least ten more songs for a potential follow-up. Richards has long joked that the band will stop when they fall over, and the productivity of the Watt era suggests they mean it.
The context makes the achievement more remarkable. When Hackney Diamonds arrived in 2023, it was the band's first album of original material in 18 years. Foreign Tongues follows just three years later — a turnaround pace the Stones have not managed since the 1980s. Whatever Watt, Jagger and Richards found in the studio together, it clearly unlocked a late-career creative streak few saw coming.
For the streaming generation, the album is available everywhere today, with Spotify having hosted a pre-release page that drew heavy pre-save numbers. Between the Rolling Stones' catalog dominance, the star-studded feature list and the New Music Friday spotlight, Foreign Tongues is expected to debut strongly on both sides of the Atlantic when first-week numbers land.
It also arrives on one of the most stacked release days of the year. July 10 sees new albums from Jack White, Kelela, Future and Madonna, making this a genuinely rare Friday where rock, pop, R&B and hip-hop heavyweights all collide. That the Stones — the oldest act on the slate by decades — are commanding much of the conversation says everything about their enduring pull.
Whether Foreign Tongues ends up ranked alongside the band's classics or simply as another strong late chapter, its existence is the story: a band formed in 1962 releasing urgent new music in 2026, with more reportedly on the way. Check out the official video for lead single 'In the Stars' below, and catch Foreign Tongues on all streaming platforms and physical formats now.
Comments