-Ronnie, welcome to the show. I'm so happy to --
We hung out maybe a month ago in London
and we had the greatest time ever.
You were so funny. You're the life of the party.
-So is he. He's like this all day long, you know.
-Am I too high-energy? -I went for dinner with him,
and I had to have a lay-down first.
-Yeah. This is actually true. We did the interview.
-Yeah. -Global interview.
We were talking about "Hackney Diamonds,"
which is finally out this Friday.
And we get to dinner, and you're not there,
and we go, "Where's Ronnie and Sally?"
And your wife sent a picture.
She goes, "Yeah, Ronnie's taking a nap."
And there's you taking a nap.
-I had to in order to stay up all night with him.
But, yeah, that's a Rolling Stone blanket
made of T-shirts that otherwise would get lost.
I think it was a great idea.
-It's kind of a brilliant idea. These are all Rolling Stones --
I go, "Do you sleep with your swag?"
And you were like, "No. I get all these T-shirts
and all this stuff and I go, 'What to do with it?'"
So you made it into a quilt.
-Yeah, well, it's, like, lamb's wool-lined T-shirts.
And it's, like, so warm.
-It's super comfy. I love it.
Let's talk about the album. Here we go.
It's been almost 20 years since --
-It's the first time I seen one opened up.
-Is that right? -...shrink wrap.
Wow! -I'm honored!
-Hey, everybody!
Welcome to the album. I'm really honored.
-How does it -- How does it feel
to have a new Rolling Stones album?
-Well, I can say it's about time.
-Yes. Of course.
20 years is just about the right amount of time.
-It feels so exciting
because I'm excited
about every track on it. -Yes.
-Every track has got a different thing to say
and a different direction.
-I mean, we can talk about things now.
We weren't even allowed to talk about everything.
You do a great song with Lady Gaga,
"Sweet Sounds of Heaven," that is unbelievable.
And Stevie Wonder. -Yes.
-And Elton John and -- -Yeah, but Stevie Wonder
and Lady are on "Sweet Sound of Heaven,"
which you may have already heard because the only ones --
only tracks to be released so far
are "Angry" and "Sweet Sound of Heaven."
And I'm just blown away with them.
I mean, to be in the studio with that genius Stevie Wonder.
-Yes, but which one are you looking forward to the audience
hearing, like, that aren't those two?
Is it the -- -"Whole Wide World."
-Yeah, that's a great -- -It's a great up-tempo...
♪ Da da da da da da da da ♪
-Yes. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Good. That's good.
-You're gonna love that. -You're gonna love that one.
-And for the other side of the coin,
there's a country kind of flavored song
called "Dreamy Skies"
where I get to play a little slide and mix things.
It's very country. -I should mention, also,
this was made after the passing of Charlie Watts,
who is obviously your brother and your band member,
one of the greatest drummers.
-Yeah, well, some things are beyond our control,
and losing Charlie was one of those things.
But before he did pass, he said to me and to the band --
Because I was the last one to see him in his hospital room.
And he said, "Just make sure
that you get Steve Jordan to cover for me.
And when I get well, I can come, you know."
But he said, "Until then,
please make sure you have Steve Jordan."
And Steve is like a rocket ship behind you. It's so fantastic.
-And so you got Steve. -You know Steve.
-Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. We love Steve. That's wild.
But you got to do two songs --
Charlie plays on two songs on this album.
-Yeah. And Andrew Watt, our producer,
a magic producer. -Andrew Watt, by the way --
-Pulled this out of the hat. -What a great job he did.
-Yeah, well, he did.
He had some wonderful little ideas, like,
"Okay, let's use the drum track of Charlie
on 'Live by the Sword,'
and I'll call in Bill Wyman to get the bass."
And so in Charlie's absence, we got the band --
the original band back together.
-Original Rolling Stones. Yeah.
When you came onto the Rolling Stones,
that was '75, '76?
-Yeah. It was '74. My first solo album with "Shirley."
-Oh, yeah. You do know the song! A-ha!
Yeah, you're just playing with me. Yeah.
-In fact, it didn't sound anything like it.
That's the funk version.
-That's the fun part. That's what makes it fun.
But, so, you come into the Stones.
They're already the Rolling Stones.
Did you -- Were you a fan of the band? Did you --
-Yeah. Ever since I was at college.
-Yeah. -I used to race home to see them
on this show called "Ready Steady Go!"
and "Thank Your Lucky Stars."
All the English TV shows we had.
And I'd say, "That's my kind of music.
I'm going to be in that band!"
-Really? -Yeah.
-And they called you and said, "Do you want to join the band?"
And you're like, "Yeah, of course."
-Yeah, but a series of wonderful coincidences
being in the right place at the right time
made it happen for me.
You know, it was just -- -Was it Keith --
Was it Keith who you were friends with?
There's a picture of you and Keith, by the way,
This is 1979, I believe.
But was it Keith who --
I mean, what else could you be besides rock stars
in this photo?
I mean, come on. This is just legendary.
-And that's on board our plane, as well.
-Yes. Of course it is. Why not? Yeah, exactly.
So you get together, you play with the Rolling Stones.
You're just legendary. What a great career.
And then this album comes out and kind of --
Can we talk about this song?
-"Bite My Head Off." -"Bite My Head Off."
-That's wonderful. We just rehearsed that yesterday.
We've been doing a little bit of rehearsing to see
how these songs translate live, and they're really cooking.
-Can you tell people who is a special guest on that song?
-Paul McCartney -- his big dream -- said...
[ Cheers and applause ]
-A Beatle is on the Rolling Stones album!
A Beatle is on the Rolling Stones album!
What is going on?!
-Yeah. Well, the song goes...
♪ Bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah dah dah dah dah ♪
♪ Bite my head off ♪ Right?
And Paul -- he was so blown away.
He was a bit like a schoolboy, you know?
A kid in a toy shop, you know? -Yeah.
-And he loved it. He said, "My dream!"
-Really?
-He said, "A Beatle gets to play on a Rolling Stones album!"
Yeah, he was really knocked out. Yeah.
-It's so good. Wait till you hear this album.
It's getting great reviews, so congratulations on that.
-Yeah. I also want to mention,
by the way, that -- I know everyone probably knows this,
but maybe if you don't, you're an amazing painter.
You really are a great artist.
-Thanks. I've been painting since I was little.
-Yeah. Was your family into --
-Yeah, my two older brothers.
I grew up eight years behind Ted,
ten years behind Art. -Great name.
-And all of our initials spell ART -- Art, Ron, and Ted.
Anyway, so the thing is... -Wow.
-If they -- They were musicians, too.
So if they played, I would play.
And if they painted, I would paint.
And it just stuck with me all the years.
-I figured I'd show just a couple just to see...
-I just copied that. That's a tribute to Van Gogh.
-Yeah. It's fantastic.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-And this is a tribute to Delacroix,
one of my favorite French painters.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-This is -- You're so talented. I can't -- And this one...
-This is a little tribute to "Angry."
-Yeah.
-It's called "Barcelona Diamonds."
-Yeah. Barcelona.
Go to RonnieWood.com and check out more of Ronnie's art.
I'm just so happy that I know you,
and I'm happy that you came on.
I know you don't really do talk shows.
This means so much to me.
And to meet your family all backstage.
The most beautiful family. And your daughters are gorgeous.
And I just want to say thank you so much
and congrats on the record.
-You were so nice to them. You made them feel so warm.
-The best. This is Ronnie Wood, ladies and gentlemen!
"Hackney Diamonds" is out this Friday.
-Thank you! -This Friday!
We'll be right back with Sam Heughan.
Stick around, everybody!