How ‘Hackney Diamonds’ Made the Rolling Stones the Oldest Band to Score a No. 1 Album

When Hackney Diamonds hit No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart in November 2023, the Rolling Stones officially became the oldest band to ever top that chart. Their average age at release was about 80 — Mick Jagger was 80, Keith Richards 79, and Ronnie Wood 76. That broke the previous record held by Paul Simon, who was 74 when Stranger to Stranger debuted at No. 1 in 2016.

The album also topped the Billboard 200 in the US, making the Stones the first band to have a No. 1 album in five different decades (the 1970s, 80s, 90s, 2010s, and 2020s). That’s a feat unmatched by any other group — though individual artists like Paul McCartney have done it across six decades. For a band that formed in 1962, Hackney Diamonds wasn’t just a comeback; it was a new chapter in their long-running chart dominance.