Did the Stones Nearly End It After Charlie Watts Died?

In the months after Charlie Watts passed in August 2021, the band came close to calling it a day. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have both admitted they had serious talks about whether a farewell tour — or no tour at all — was the right move. Ultimately, they chose to keep going, partly because Charlie himself had encouraged them to continue during his illness, and partly because stopping felt like giving up on the one thing that kept the band alive.

The Hackney Diamonds sessions were already underway before Charlie died. He had played on a couple of tracks, including “Mess It Up” and “Live by the Sword,” which kept his drum parts on the final album. The rest of the record was recorded after his death with Steve Jordan, who stepped into an impossible role. The grieving process reshaped the album’s tone — songs about endings, resilience,