Listen to The Rolling Stones' new seven-minute gospel song Sweet Sounds Of Heaven, featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder

The Rolling Stones
(Image credit: Jeremy O'Donnell | Universal)

The Rolling Stones have released the second single from their forthcoming Hackney Diamonds album: written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the seven minute 22 seconds-long Sweet Sounds of Heaven is a gospel-infused Stones' epic in the vein of You Can’t Always Get What You Want, and features guest cameos from Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder.

Lady Gaga's appearance on the song came about simply because she was recording at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles at the same time that the band were in residence with producer Andrew Watt (Iggy Pop/Ozzy Osbourne/Miley Cyrus) and asked if she could pop in to hear what they were working upon.

“She just walked in and curled up in a ball in front of me on the floor,” Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone. “And then someone gave her a mic, and she started singing oohs and ahs.” 

“She was sitting there on the floor just digging it and singing along,” Ronnie Wood added, “and Mick said, ‘Well, come on in. Stand up. Let’s make a thing of this then. Let’s do it properly'.”

Listen to the song below:


Due on October 20 via Universal, Hackney Diamonds is the band's first album of original material since 2005's A Bigger Bang. The 12-track album was introduced by the single Angry, with a video starring US actress Sydney Sweeney. 

It features Paul McCartney playing bass on Bite My Head Off, described as the album's 'punk' song, and Elton John playing on Get Close, and Live by the Sword, one of two tracks (the other being Mess It Up) to feature drums recorded by late Stones drummer Charlie Watts.

Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.