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\n\tThe Rolling Stones<\/a> have called off plans for a 2026 stadium tour of the United Kingdom and Europe, a source close to the band confirms to Variety,<\/em> following reports that guitarist Keith Richards was unable to \u201ccommit\u201d to it.<\/p>\n \n\tWhile never officially announced, the group\u2019s touring pianist Chuck Leavell and a spokesperson recently told press in the U.K. that the band has nearly completed a new album \u2014 their second with 35-year-old producer Andrew Watt \u2014 and planned on touring the U.K. and Europe. However, Richards, who turns 82 on Thursday, is said to be unable to commit to the rigors of another tour. Live dates in recent years have shown that he has faced challenges due to a long battle with arthritis, which he has called \u201cbenign\u201d <\/a>and said has forced him to change his style of playing.<\/p>\n \n\tRichards was in fine form during a brief three-song performance at the Soho Sessions<\/a> in New York last month, however, that is a much different proposition than a multi-country, multi-week tour. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhen they properly sat down to discuss the tour, Keith said he didn\u2019t think he could commit and wasn\u2019t keen on a big stadium tour for over four months,\u201d an unnamed \u201cAmerican music critic\u201d reportedly told British tabloid The Sun<\/a> on Monday. An unnamed spokesperson added, \u201cThe band were looking to tour earlier this year but couldn\u2019t make it work either. It\u2019s hard for their fans but The Stones will get back onstage when they\u2019re good and ready.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe Stones have toured nearly every year since the early 2000s, in increasingly small itineraries as the three principals \u2014 Mick Jagger, 82, Ron Wood, 78, and Richards \u2014 have grown older; original drummer Charlie Watts died in 2021 <\/a>and was replaced by longtime Richards collaborator Steve Jordan. The band\u2019s most recent tour was the \u201cHackney Diamonds\u201d jaunt, named after their most recent album, which spread 20 North American dates across three months.<\/p>\n \n\tHowever, a new album appears to be on track for release next year, as Watt \u2014\u00a0who has worked closely with Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran and Miley Cyrus as well as as Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne and Pearl Jam \u2014 seemed to inject new life into the group, helping them to finish \u201cHackney Diamonds,\u201d their first full album of new material <\/a>in some 15 years in 2023.<\/p>\n