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Rolling Stones: How Their Collaboration with Lady Gaga Happened

The Rolling Stones recently confirmed the list of guests on their new album, Hackney Diamonds. Among them is Lady Gaga, and how she got involved with the Stones is quite the…

Mick Jagger performing on stage; Lady Gaga performing on stage.
Ethan Miller, Kevin Winter/Getty Images

The Rolling Stones recently confirmed the list of guests on their new albumHackney Diamonds. Among them is Lady Gaga, and how she got involved with the Stones is quite the story.

The band shared it in a new interview with Rolling Stone. As luck would have it, Gaga and the Stones were at the same recording studio at the same time working on new music. The pop star asked if she could stop by and say hello. During this session, the band was working on the song "Sweet Sounds of Heaven," which also features Stevie Wonder on keyboards.

Mick Jagger said, "She just walked in, in front of me, and she just curled up in a ball in front of me on the floor, and then someone gave her a mic, and she started singing 'oohs' and 'ahs.'"

Ronnie Wood added, "And Mick said, ‘Well, come on in. Stand up. Let’s make a thing of this then. Let’s do it properly.'"

And there you have it: A simple request to say hello turned into a guest spot on a new Rolling Stones album!

As previously reported, other guests on Hackney Diamonds include Paul McCartney, original Stones bassist Bill Wyman and Elton John. McCartney plays on "Bite My Head Off," while Wyman and John play bass and piano, respectively, on "Live by the Sword"

Hackney Diamonds comes out on October 20. A full track list for the album is below, and it's available for pre-order in a variety of formats at RollingStones.com.

Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds - Track List

Angry
Get Close
Depending On You
Bite My Head Off
Whole Wide World
Dreamy Skies
Mess It Up
Live By the Sword
Driving Me Too Hard
Tell Me Straight
Sweet Sound of Heaven
Rolling Stone Blues

Erica Banas is a news blogger who's been covering the rock/classic rock world since 2014. The coolest event she's ever covered in person was the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Sir Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters? C'mon now!) She's also well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights