Paul McCartney reportedly plays bass on the next Rolling Stones album

Keith Richards and Paul McCartney onstage (composite image) — (Image credit: Keith Richards: Paul Bergen | Paul McCartney: Matt Cardy)

They may have been the two biggest bands of the 60s, but instances of members of The Beatles and the Rolling Stones recording together are thin on the ground.

That might be about to change. According to "multiple sources" cited by Variety, Paul McCartney has recorded bass parts for a new Rolling Stones album. The publication reveals that the as-yet-unnamed project also features Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, and is produced by Andrew Watt, most recently spotted picking up the Grammy Award for Ozzy Osbourne's Patient Number 9 album.

Sessions for the album were reportedly completed in Los Angeles recently, and mixing is about to get underway.

In an interview published in December on his website, McCartney said, "I'm doing some more recording. I’ve been recording with a couple of people, so I’m looking forward to doing even more. I’ve started working with this producer called Andrew Watt, and he’s very interesting – we’ve had some fun. Beyond that, I don’t have anything massive planned... at the moment!"

And last month, ShowBiz 411 reported that Watt had been working with The Stones at Sanctuary Studio in Nassau, The Bahamas.

One confirmed example of previous Beatles/Rolling Stones collaboration is The Stones' We Love You, which featured John Lennon and Paul McCartney on backing vocals, while rumours continue to circulate that Mick Jagger contributed his voice to The Beatles' Baby You’re A Rich Man.

In April 2020 The Rolling Stones released Living In A Ghost Town, their first new song since Doom And Gloom and One More Shot were both included on 2012's GRRR! compilation. A new live album, GRRR Live!, was released earlier this month.

Artists

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.