Rolling Stones reignite rivalry with Paul McCartney has they announce THREE huge UK gigs on new SIXTY tour
THE Rolling Stones will go head-to-head with their old rival Paul McCartney after announcing a huge concert at the same time as his Glastonbury headline set.
The music legends will play BST Hyde Park on June 25 as part of their new SIXTY tour, which they announced today to mark their sixth decade as a band.
Stones frontman Mick Jagger, alongside his bandmates Keith Richards and Ronnie Woods, will take to the stage on the same day Beatles icon Paul, 79, performs at the Pyramid stage at Worthy Farm.
In their Sixties hey-day The Stones and the Beatles competed in the charts and traded banter over who bore the most influence in the music industry.
Last October Paul made headlines after saying The Beatles had a bigger reach, telling Rolling Stone: “I’m not sure I should say it, but they’re a blues cover band, that’s sort of what the Stones are.”
Mick later made fun of the jibe and said on stage at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles just days later and told the crowd: “Paul McCartney is here, he’s going to help us, he’s going to join us in the blues cover later on….”
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The Stones’ gig at BST comes 53 years after their first ever concert in Hyde Park – where half a million people watched Stones In The Park, their most famous gig of all time.
As part of their SIXTY tour, the Stones will also perform again at BST on July 3 – and have booked a one-off date at Liverpool’s stadium Anfield on June 9.
The gig at Anfield will be the first time the group have ever played the venue, and it will be their first performance on British soil since the death of drummer Charlie Watts.
Charlie died aged 80 on August 24 last year.
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Steve Jordan, who has performed with The Stones since Charlie’s passing, will join them on their SIXTY tour.
Speaking about carrying on without him, Mick said: “After doing the first couple of shows, I feel really good about it.
“I’m glad we’re doing it. I know Charlie wanted us to do it, and I think the audience wanted us to do it. They seem to.
“And of course it’s different — and of course in some ways it’s kind of sad. But you just go out there and rock out, and you feel better. And it’s very cathartic.”
Mick and Keith, both 78, and Ronnie, 74, have created a brand new production for the tour and promised “a massive stage, cutting edge lighting and state of the art video design,” for fans who are lucky enough to get tickets.
As well as playing their biggest hits including Gimme Shelter and Start Me Up, The Stones will also play a selection of unexpected tracks at each concert from their incredible back catalogue of 30 studio albums.
The 14-date run of concerts kicks off in the Spanish capital of Madrid on June 1.
From there they will play in Germany four days later before coming to the UK for their Liverpool gig.
The group will then perform in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy before returning to London to play at BST.
The Stones join stars including Adele and Sir Elton John who are also headliners at the festival.
In addition to these concerts, The Stones will play concerts in France and Austria before their final date in Sweden on July 31.
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To mark the SIXTY tour the group have also released a brand new Rolling Stones tongue, designed by British artist Mark Norton.
The psychedelic design will make up part of the staging on the SIXTY tour and will cover new merchandise.
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