The Rolling Stones return: update on The Cockroaches, new music, and the chances of a 2026 tour

After sharing cryptic hints around London, it has been confirmed that The Rolling Stones are back with new music.

Earlier this month, rumours arose that the rock veterans were planning on making an announcement. A number of mysterious posters were spotted in the capital, which simply read ‘The Cockroaches’ along with a QR code.

The name is an alias that Mick Jagger and co. have used in the past to play secret shows, and the QR code took fans to a website that read “Who The Fuck Are The Cockroaches?” – similar to that of the iconic shirt owned by Ronnie Wood, which read “Who The Fuck Is Mick Jagger?”.

When signing up for updates, an email was sent out from Universal Music – which is the same label that represents the Stones.

At first, it wasn’t clear if The Cockroaches posters had any connection to The Rolling Stones beyond speculation, nor was it clear if it was angling at new music or a live show.

Now, the rumours have been confirmed, and the ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ rock stars have a new single on the way called ‘Rough And Twisted’.

The news was confirmed by The Times, which said it had heard the song, and it sees Jagger sing about driving “down a rough and twisted road all the way to Puerto Rico, where the tide ebbs and flows and you do feel that something sexual may be happening along the way”.

It is also said to start with an electric blues riff reminiscent of ‘Start Me Up’, and is set to arrive as a vinyl-only “white label” release from tomorrow (Saturday April 11).

“You just took me to a flyblown town in the middle of nowhere/ The smell was acrid and toxic/ Couldn’t breathe the air,” Jagger is reported to sing on the track, and there is also a “killer riff” and “a rambunctious harmonica solo” from the frontman.

It has also been confirmed that this new track is the first single to be shared from an as-yet-unnamed Rolling Stones album. The record will be the band’s first since 2023’s Grammy-winning ‘Hackney Diamonds’, their 25th studio album, and set for release in July.

Like that 2023 release – which was their first since the death of Charlie Watts – the new record will see the Stones join forces with Andrew Watt again.

The Times also reports that the album will not be the last from the rock icons, as they already have at least 10 songs written for another release after this upcoming record.

Confirmation of new music comes after Andrew Watt revealed last year that he had been working with the line-up again to help them make another album, and guitarist Ronnie Wood himself later confirmed reports that new music was in the works – saying that it was done and set to arrive in 2026.

The band are unlikely to announce a full tour anytime soon. Last year, they confirmed that they scrapped plans for a UK and European stadium tour in 2026, due to Keith Richards being unable to “commit” to it.

If they came to fruition, the gigs would have been the first tour dates from them since they went out on their ‘Hackney Diamonds’ tour in the US in 2024. They sold nearly a million tickets across those 20 dates and generated an estimated $235million (£185.1million) – making it to Number Six on the highest-grossing music world tours of that year.

A spokesperson for the band confirmed that this situation has not changed, and told The Times: “The Rolling Stones will play when they decide to, not before. There are no concerts planned.”

The Stones last played the UK in 2022, when two huge BST Hyde Park gigs followed a stadium show at Liverpool’s Anfield.