Rolling Stones: historic Havana concert to air on Rai5 in the documentary "Havana Moon"

The Rolling Stones' historic concert in Havana becomes a cinematic document in "Rolling Stones: Havana Moon", directed by Paul Dugdale and airing on Rai5 tomorrow, Wednesday 4 February, at 11:30 pm for Rai Cultura.

Filmed at the close of the 2016 "América Latina Olé Tour", the film recounts an unprecedented event: a free concert that drew over one million two hundred thousand spectators to Havana, turning the Ciudad Deportiva into a vast open-air arena. On stage, the Rolling Stones in full: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood.

The setlist runs through the key moments of their repertoire, with classics such as "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "It's Only Rock 'n Roll", "Gimme Shelter", "Brown Sugar" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", capturing the energy of a band capable of speaking to audiences and contexts historically so distant. More than the record of a show, "Rolling Stones: Havana Moon" preserves on film the symbolic weight of an evening that marked a cultural and musical turning point for Cuba.

Meanwhile, rumours keep circulating across the Channel: the Rolling Stones are said to be working on a new album, two years after the release of "Hackney Diamonds". But that's not all: despite their age, Mick Jagger and co. are reportedly already thinking about a possible tour as well.

According to the British tabloid The Sun, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Steve Jordan reportedly began recording the follow-up to "Hackney Diamonds" last April. The English band is said to have already completed thirteen tracks at Metropolis Studios in London.

A source close to the band told The Sun: "Initially there was talk of bringing the big US tour to the UK and Europe this summer, but the promoters couldn't find suitable dates. So the Stones decided to go back into the studio to focus on the new album. It's a huge surprise for fans, who won't get to see them live this year." Production is once again in the hands of Andrew Watt, who already worked on three tracks on "Hackney Diamonds" and is now back on board for the project.

At the moment, there has been no official confirmation from the band regarding either the release of the new album or any potential tour plans. What is certain, however, is that even before the release of "Hackney Diamonds" in 2023, Mick Jagger told The New York Times that he didn't see that record as the last of their career - in fact, he said much of the material for a future album was already in the works. Keith Richards shared the same view, telling SiriusXM that same year: "There's still plenty in the pipeline. There'll always be another album, until we drop... That's what we do. Keep the Rolling Stones going till the end."

The Rolling Stones remain one of the longest-running rock bands on the planet. And someone — no names, but we're talking about John Lydon — argues that by now they'd do well to retire. And yet Jagger and co. stubbornly keep behaving like rockstars, despite their venerable age. Their towering career was recently celebrated by GQ magazine, which published a ranking of what it considers the ten best albums released by Mick Jagger and co. over their six-decades-plus career.

Here's the British magazine's top ten (full feature here).

10. Blue & Lonesome (2016)

9. Goats Head Soup (1973)

8. Out Of Our Heads (1965)

7. Tattoo You (1981)

6. Aftermath (1966)

5. Some Girls (1978)

4. Let it Bleed (1969)

3. Beggars Banquet (1968)

2. Exile On Main Street (1972)

1. Sticky Fingers (1971)

"Hackney Diamonds" (2023) is the Stones' first studio album of new material since "A Bigger Bang" (2005), but in all this time the band has never really sat idle, between global tours and the release of the excellent blues covers album "Blue And Lonesome" (2016), which even earned them a Grammy Award. The record is also the first released following the death of longtime drummer Charlie Watts, who appears on two songs, "Mess It Up" and "Live By The Sword".

Mindful of the success of "Blue And Lonesome", on "Hackney Diamonds" the rolling stones opted to lean into the strengths that made them famous, focusing on blues-rock tracks alongside more pop-tinged numbers, ballads and orchestral soul, amid experiments that work to varying degrees. And if this were indeed meant as a career closer, as the lyrics and the album's very ending seem to suggest, what more could one possibly ask of them?

In 2024, Wyman released his ninth solo album, “Drive My Car”, nine years after 2015's “Back To Basics”.

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