Original bass player Bill Wyman back recording with The Rolling Stones

Bill Wyman, the original bass player with The Rolling Stones, will feature on the legendary English rock band’s forthcoming album.

According to The Sun, he was invited to Los Angeles by Sir Mick Jagger to join his former bandmates in the studio. They have been working for some time on an album – their 22nd – that will pay tribute to their original drummer Charlie Watts.

Charlie passed away from throat cancer in August 2021 just before their 60th-anniversary tour was due to kick off. Mick, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood thought it fitting that Bill should take part in the band’s first album containing original songs since ‘The Bigger Bang’, in 2005.

‘Bill hasn’t seen the band together for years but always loved Charlie. This record’s really a tribute to Charlie, so he couldn’t say no. After ­several sessions in LA done about six months ago, Bill’s playing is going to feature on the record,’ a source told the news outlet.

‘You haven’t heard the last of Charlie Watts’, the 79-year-old Keith Richards told the Los Angeles Times recently. Drum parts recorded by Charlie prior to his passing are reportedly being incorporated into the album.

Major names including Sirs Paul McCartney and Elton John have reportedly been involved in the recording.

A major tour of Europe, South America and the United States is said to be in the pipeline but there is no word on Bill Wyman participating in it.

His last work on a studio album with the Stones was in 1989 on ‘Steel Wheels’. The 86-year-old subsequently retired from the band in 1993, after performing all over the world with them since 1962.

He played on some classic hits through the years, including ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, ‘Paint It Black’, ‘Little Red Rooster’, ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’, ‘Brown Sugar’, and many more.

In 1967 Wyman contributed one of his self-penned songs to the album ‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’ in the form of ‘‘In Another Land’, on which he also sang lead vocal.

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