Keith Richards on The Rolling Stones Roots and Evolving Sound

Summary

Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

Episode: Keith Richards on The Rolling Stones’ Roots and Evolving Sound
Date: June 21, 2026
Host: Willie Geist
Guest: Keith Richards

Episode Overview

In this vibrant and candid interview, Willie Geist sits down with Keith Richards—legendary guitarist and co-founder of The Rolling Stones—just after sitting down with Mick Jagger, completing the “Glimmer Twins” set. They dive into the making of the Stones’ latest album, Foreign Tongues, the enduring creative spark between Richards and Jagger, reflections on band history and the late Charlie Watts, and what it means to carry the blues legacy into modern rock. Richards is his classic self: witty, self-deprecating, and brimming with stories from a life steeped in music and myth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The New Album: Foreign Tongues

• Sound and Spirit

  • Willie describes the album as “blues, great driven rock and roll,” asking Richards if it feels like a classic Stones record.
    • Keith Richards (03:00):

      "It is what it is. It's a Stones album... they're on a roll at the moment... it was great fun to make. Andrew Watt is a kick up the butt."

  • The album is seen as a continuation of the energy from their previous release, Hackney Diamonds, with material leftover and creative momentum fueling the new work.

• Evolution in the Studio

  • Richards explains the shift from writing while touring in their youth to bringing new material separately and collaborating in the studio:
    • Keith Richards (05:54):

      "Now we write separately in part and then sort of pull everything together... say, ‘Well, what do you got? Show me your wares.’"

  • New producer Andrew Watt brought fresh ears, finding gems left overlooked and fostering a palpable creative energy.

Remembering Charlie Watts & New Stones Rhythm

• Carrying On After Loss

  • Discussing Steve Jordan’s entry following the passing of Charlie Watts:
    • Keith Richards (04:14):

      “Charlie and Steve are so close and Steve knows Charlie's love and feel... Sometimes he fools me. I do think it's Charlie Watts behind me… It's just a sort of natural feel.”

  • Richards finds comfort and inspiration continuing the band’s musical legacy with musicians who respect and deeply understand the Stones’ DNA.

• Charlie Watts' Final Tracks

  • The new album features some of Charlie’s drums, recorded before his passing:
    • Keith Richards (06:50):

      “There's Charlie's on a couple of tracks... there’s a sort of fairly seamless [continuity].”

The Songwriting Process

• How Songs Emerge

  • Richards describes a spontaneous approach to songwriting:
    • Keith Richards (08:40):

      "I never sit down and say, I'm going to write a song. I just pick up an instrument and play Buddy Holly or something and then wait."

    • Often, a riff or change emerges, prompting a call to Mick to “fill in the other half.”

• Practice and Inspiration

  • Does he play every day?
    • Keith Richards (09:53):

      “No, I wouldn't say every day, but just about. I always have [the] acoustic guitar... on the couch."

• Collaboration with Mick Jagger

  • The Richards-Jagger synergy remains at the core of the Stones experience:
    • Keith Richards (10:14):

      “Call up Mick and say, ‘I've got this riff... What have you got?’ Maybe you can fill in the other half. So we kind of work like that.”

Reflections on the Stones’ Origins and Legacy

• Legendary Meeting

  • Asked about meeting Jagger at the Dartford train station in 1961—where Jagger carried Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry records:
    • Keith Richards (11:23):

      “Dartford railway station, is a shrine to me.”

  • Richards is aware of their journey but finds a balance between awe and pragmatism:
    • Keith Richards (11:56):

      “There is somewhere in between there is a wonder about it. Yeah.”

• Endurance and Band Chemistry

  • How do they keep going, sounding as vital as ever in 2026?
    • Keith Richards (13:49):

      “There's a very, very strong bond between Mick and I that goes even beyond... what we're aware of. And I think that might be something to do with it.”

    • He credits the "right cats" (Charlie, Ronnie, now Steve and Darrel) and the sense of challenge and camaraderie.

Touring, Longevity, and Life on Stage

• The Thrill of Performing

  • Is the thrill still there for the classics—“Satisfaction,” “Start Me Up”—and massive crowds?
    • Keith Richards (15:37):

      “You feel it through the crowd... it's amplified by fifty hundred thousand people emotions... that’s why you do it. Love to get on stage and kick some ass.”

• Fan Favorite Songs and Albums

  • If he had to pick a Rolling Stones song that feels definitive:
    • Keith Richards (16:18):

      “When I wake up and suddenly ask myself that question, I say, ‘Midnight Rambler.’... It might be not the best song in the world, I don't know. But it's the Rolling Stones at their best.”

  • On favorite Stones albums, Richards resists naming just one, citing the range and history—though he acknowledges Exile on Main Street:
    • Keith Richards (17:14):

      “I can't cut them up like that... at the moment it's not tried and tested, so I can't throw this one [Foreign Tongues] into the mix, but I couldn't pick one. And then Exile on Main Street.”

• Continued Touring?

  • Richards looks forward to playing the new songs live—just maybe not this year:
    • Keith Richards (20:59):

      “I'd love to. I don't think it's gonna happen this year... But basically, the road... is absolutely, I think, on the plans probably next year.”

• No Plans to Stop

  • Asked if there’s any chance they'll slow down:
    • Keith Richards (21:40):

      “Sure, of course. What else now am I gonna change?”

The Blues: Artistic Roots and Identity

• Always a Blues Band

  • The Stones’ blues heritage remains their foundation, even as they’ve flirted with other genres (disco, pop in the '80s):
    • Keith Richards (20:23):

      “Everything that you listen to now and listen to before... there is something about the blues which is, like, beautifully consistent... There is a musical thread through it and through popular music.”

    • Keith Richards (20:50):

      “It's the great American gift, man.”

• Honoring the Legacy

  • Richards takes pride in connecting new generations to foundational artists like Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry, emphasizing that blues is at the origin of so much of modern music.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the writing process:

  • "I never sit down and say, I'm going to write a song. I just pick up an instrument and play Buddy Holly or something and then wait."
    —Keith Richards (08:40)

• On longevity:

  • "If there was a secret, first off, I wouldn't tell anybody... I just keep going. I feel good as long as I got something to do, you know, especially with these boys at the moment. They're really keeping me on my toes."
    —Keith Richards (15:00)

• On Stones’ chemistry:

  • "There's a very, very strong bond between Mick and I that goes even beyond... what we're aware of."
    —Keith Richards (13:49)

• On 'Midnight Rambler' as definitive Stones:

  • "I don't know why it always says this is the expression. This is what it's all about... It's the Rolling Stones at their best."
    —Keith Richards (16:27)

• On the band's future:

  • "Sure, of course. What else now am I gonna change?"
    —Keith Richards (21:40)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:00 – The sound and continuity of Foreign Tongues
• 04:14 – Replacing Charlie Watts; Steve Jordan’s feel
• 06:50 – Charlie Watts’ drumming lives on in the new record
• 08:40 – Richards’ spontaneous creative approach
• 11:23 – Dartford station meeting and the band's origins
• 13:49 – Enduring magic of the Stones’ chemistry
• 15:37 – The energy of performing after all these years
• 16:18 – ‘Midnight Rambler’ as Stones’ best expression
• 17:14 – Unable to choose a favorite Stones album
• 18:53 – Working with Stevie Winwood on the new album
• 20:23 – The continuous thread and influence of the blues
• 20:59 – Prospects for future touring

---

Conclusion

This conversation is a celebration of the Stones’ legendary journey, their creative endurance, and the forces—musical and personal—that keep them rolling. Richards is equal parts philosopher and rock-and-roll lifer, giving fans what they came for: stories behind the riffs and reassurance that the world’s greatest rock band isn’t done yet.

---

Foreign Tongues, The Rolling Stones’ latest album, is out July 10th, 2026.
Stay tuned for more in-depth conversations on Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist.

Transcript

[Keith Richards]

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[Willie Geist]

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Oh, don't be silly. You don't be silly.

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[Keith Richards]

Rock, paper, scissors.

[Unidentified Guest 1]

Shoot.

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[Willie Geist]

Hey, guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit down podcast. My thanks, as always, for clicking and listening along. Last time we talked, I sat down with Mick Jagger. We brought you that conversation. So you got to have the other half of the Glimmer Twins, his running mate for all these years, Keith Richards, this week on the Sunday Sit down podcast. So basically, the day I interviewed Mick Jagger, we do that interview. Mick Jagger gets up, walks out of the hotel room, says goodbye to everybody. A few minutes later, in walks Keith Richards. The great Keith Richards. I mean, just the very archetype of what a rock and roll guitarist is and should be and looks like. And, man, we sat down and had a conversation about the Stones new album, Foreign Tongues, how much fun he had playing, but also about the Stone's history, his longevity. Told me I should ask his doctor about that. It was just so much fun to sit with the man who is exactly what you hope he'll be, which is charming and funny and piratey in all the best ways. Of course, Johnny Depp modeled his character in Pirates of the Caribbean after Keith Richards. We know that. So, wow. Just to be in the room with Keith Richards for a while and to have this conversation was a total thrill for a lifelong Stones fan. So, as I say, the new album Foreign Tongues, but so much more history of the Stones relationship with guys in the band talking about the late Charles Charlie Watts, who passed away about five years ago. So let me just get out of the way, sit back and let you listen to Keith Richards on the Sunday Sit down podcast.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Keith Richards. I just had to say that out loud. I'm so happy to meet you.

[Keith Richards]

Hey, pleasure.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Thank you for doing this.

[Keith Richards]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

We were just talking about the new album, Foreign Tongues.

[Keith Richards]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Which sounds to me like just another. A great Rolling Stones album. It's blues, great driven rock and roll. Does it feel that way to you?

[Keith Richards]

It. It did. And I'm really glad that it sort of feels the same way to you. Yeah. Because it is. It is what it is. It's a Stones album and they're on a roll at the moment, you know, since Hackney Diamonds, they've got a. They're picking up the force. But anyway, it was great fun to make. Andrew Watt is a. Is a. Is a kick up the butt. Let's. And also Nick was coming out with a lot of material. We still had a lot of material left over from Hackney Diamonds and it was in a way a continuation of that record, except us getting to know each other, or at least Andrew Bella and, you know, just tweaking things here and there. And also for me, Steve Jordan and Darrel Jones, which is the Stones rhythm section now, they're on this together and I was really happy to get them in the groove.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Yeah. I mean, Steve Jordan, who is one of the all time great drummers, right. Comes in on the untimely passing of your dear friend Charlie. Is it still a little odd, though, to look back and see that Charlie's not there?

[Keith Richards]

Yeah, just black. The only surprise. But yeah, otherwise, you know, Charlie and Steve are so close and Steve knows Charlie's love and feel that we can play with it. Sometimes he fools me. I do think it's Charlie Watts behind me and he's not necessarily trying to do it. It's just a sort of natural feel, you know, this is what we like,

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

you know, it does feel like you're on a roll, Keith, which is you guys hadn't put out a new original album in many years. Almost 20 years. And then comes Hackney. And then now, just three years later,

[Keith Richards]

here we go again, full of surprises.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Does it feel like you're on a roll at the moment?

[Keith Richards]

At the moment? Yes, it does. You know, I mean, recording is a strange thing. You know, sometimes nothing is happening or there's a lot happening, but it's not the right time to put it out. You know, you never know. There's all many variables about let's put a record out. And at the same time, record companies are putting out all reissues, Right. Well, you know, we're not going to fight ourselves, so. But I'm amazed that we pulled it off and I'm very happy. So this is like, yeah, this is a fresh here we come again sort of thing.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Well, we're happy you are. Here you come again. Is the process of writing music with your old friend Mick and making a record, is it much different now than it was all those years ago? Or does it feel like there's still a fundamental relationship that makes the music.

[Keith Richards]

We do it in the old days. I mean, obviously we were on the road together. We were writing all of that early stuff, you know, in Holiday. Holiday Inns, you know, come on, we got a deadline and. And now we write separately in part and then sort of pull everything together and say, you know, well, what do you got? Yeah, show me your wares. And I mean, try and work it out like that, you know, and it's at the same, you know, when you have a new producer. Andrew was hearing stuff from out of the can that we hadn't, you know, we sort of overlooked all our. And this still has to be used, which was very interesting. And, you know, there's some. So there's a sort of continuity about it, you know, it was kind of nice. You know, there's Charlie's on a couple of tracks.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Yes.

[Keith Richards]

You know, there's a sort of fairly seamless.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

You have some recorded drums from Charlie about five years ago before he passed on this record, which is a very cool touch.

[Willie Geist]

Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Keith Richards right after the break.

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[Willie Geist]

Welcome back. Now more of my conversation with Keith Richards.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Do you still, Keith, get the joy that you've always gotten out of making music, which is sitting in a room maybe with your acoustic guitar and working something out?

[Keith Richards]

You know, I think that that's the most constant thing I can say yes out of, you know. Yeah, music is a. It's better than jail. But, you know, you can put yourself in there and music will do for you whatever you can put into it and find out. I mean, I sit there sometimes and I have no idea. I never sit down and say, I'm going to write a song. I just pick up an instrument and play Buddy Holly or something and then wait. And then suddenly somewhere out of something. Hold on. That's an interesting change. And it sort of starts from little things like that, you know. Then you say, I've got to follow that sequence a little more and then a phrase comes into play and then that's writing, so on.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

That's amazing. It'll just come to you. Yeah, yeah.

[Keith Richards]

I never chased it. It's too hard work.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Do you play every day, Keith? Do you sit with your guitar every day?

[Keith Richards]

No, I wouldn't say every day, but just about. I always have acoustic guitar, you know, it's on the couch and. Yeah, I keep my hand indefinitely, you know, you have to, really.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Is this how some of the great riffs you've played over the years? Whether it's Satisfaction or Start Me up or all those. Is that how those have come to you? Just playing?

[Keith Richards]

Yeah, Just sitting around on the couch and, you know, with an acoustic guitar and then you say, hey, guys, like this one. And if it's a yay, then we take it, you know. Yeah, it's quite a little, you know, private little thing in a way. And sometimes you call up Mick and say, I've got this rift that I've only got half of it. What have you got? Maybe you can fill in the other half. And so we kind of work like that, you know.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Yeah. The partnership that has worked for, I don't know, 60 some years, right?

[Keith Richards]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Through thick and thin

[Keith Richards]

since the sand Pit.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Do you ever think back, Keith? I don't know if you're sentimental about these things, but I was thinking about this fateful meeting that you and Mick had, famously, in 1961, on the train Platform in Dartford, right? And he's got the records under his arm and it's Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry and you say, that's my guy. Do you ever now, all these years later, when you've sold out every stadium on the face of the earth and you're one of the greatest bands of all time, do you ever stop and go, look how far we've come?

[Keith Richards]

I also pray to British Rail, but the fact that he just got in the same carriage that day, Dartford railway station, is a shrine to me.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

There is a plaque there, Keith. I don't know if you know that.

[Keith Richards]

I heard, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't go back there. I don't want to cause us disturbance.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Well, it's now a historic landmark where you and Mick got together. But do you stop and think about, look how far we've come?

[Keith Richards]

You know, sometimes somebody's mentioned it to you and you go, and it does get right in your face and you're my God, I can't believe this. And then there's another part of you having done it so long that you sort of. You put the old man actor, and I say, oh, you know, it's the way it is. But there is somewhere in between there is a wonder about it. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Stick around for more of my conversation with Keith Richards. Right after a quick break

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[Willie Geist]

Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Keith Richards.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

How do you explain, Keith, the longevity of this? We can talk about your longevity, but the band's longevity that in 2026 you can put out this album, Foreign Tongues, and have it sound as good as ever, your guitars and mixed voice and everybody, it's. It's right there. How do you explain that?

[Keith Richards]

I. I wish I. I would ask somebody else that. I can't explain it. I would just say that there's a very, very strong bond between Mick and I that goes even beyond, in a way that we're aware of. And I think that might be something to do with it. And then we have just been so fortunate in working with the right cats, you know, from Charlie. What's the. And Ronnie, you know, now I have Ronnie, you know, I mean, we've always drawn the best guys to us. And. And I tell you what, sometimes it's like a pleasure. You just have to step. I say, I gotta step up this, right? Yeah.

[Unidentified Guest 1]

Right.

[Keith Richards]

So it sort of keeps you on your toes and, you know, which isn't

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

bad, you know, when you play with the best, you've got to keep up sometimes. Isn't that right?

[Keith Richards]

Yeah. Then you demand the best. Yeah.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

You talked about your own longevity. You have this funny line you say at the shows sometimes. You say, it's good to be here. It's good to be anywhere. Right?

[Keith Richards]

Right.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

I think people look at your life and they go, wow, he is still doing it at this point. What is your secret?

[Keith Richards]

If there was a secret, first off, I wouldn't tell anybody. And I mean, I don't know. I mean, it's as simple as that. I just keep going. I feel good as long as I got something to do, you know, Especially with these boys at the moment. They're really keeping me on my toes. And, you know, I mean, I've even lost some weight.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Looking good. Yeah. Do you still get the thrill when you go out on stage and maybe play that opening riff of Start Me up or Satisfaction and the crowd, as they have for all these years, goes wild. You still feel that?

[Keith Richards]

Yeah, yeah. You feel it. I mean, you feel it through the crowd, you know, even. And. And suddenly it's amplified by fifty hundred thousand people emotions, you know, it is. And I mean, basically, that's why you do it, you know, Just love to get on stage and kick some ass.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Is there a. I know this is a difficult question. I was just talking to Nick about this. Is there a song when you get out there and play, you go, yeah, this is the one. This is us at our best. I know there are thousand of them.

[Keith Richards]

This is really tough.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

I know it's too many and they're all different, but do.

[Keith Richards]

You know. But sometimes when I wake up and suddenly ask myself that question, I say midnight rambling.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Mmm. I'm with you on that, by the way.

[Keith Richards]

Just. I don't know why it always says this is the expression. This is what it's all about. It might be not the best song in the world, I don't know. But it's the Rolling Stones at their best.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

It's a great tune, isn't it? It's a great tune. And Mick ends it by saying, I stick my knife right down your throat, baby, and it hurts.

[Keith Richards]

You can't go wrong with material like this. And we're out.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Another game I was playing with Mick was there's this idea of the sort of desert island. The great Rolling Stones album. People say, Let It Bleed or Exile. It depends, you know, which area you like the best, maybe. Or tattoo you one of those. Do you have a favorite Rolling Stones album?

[Keith Richards]

I can't cut them up like that. No, I'd go along with it because there's so much stuff from different times. And I mean. I mean, there are the obvious ones. Baker's Baron. I mean, do I have to. If I have to pick, could I pick, you know, any of that stuff? Could I pick this one? You know, But I mean, at the moment it's not tried and tested, so I can't throw this one into the mix, but I couldn't pick one. And then Exile on Main Street.

[Shannon Maldonado]

Wow.

[Keith Richards]

Like, I know this is a tough one, pal.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Yeah. And then there's the story, the making of these records. Exile, famously, you guys in France, which is so different from the process for this album when, as you've talked about, you know, it was about what, four weeks of this little room together. But it does seem like watching just some behind the scenes footage of you guys working together. The joy of being in that room together and making cool songs is still there for all of you.

[Keith Richards]

Yeah, there is some footage.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Yeah.

[Keith Richards]

Yeah. And yeah. Because I think they. They filmed the whole sessions without even knowing. So I've seen. It's funny.

[Unidentified Guest 1]

It is.

[Keith Richards]

Yeah. Because half the time he's making jokes and going, oh, my God, I screwed up. And. And then, you know, then there's the music and stuff. And it's just the process of. Of putting something together. And I'm fair to say also because we were working with Stevie Wynwood.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Yes.

[Keith Richards]

You know, which is. Made an all English band, at least the front mine. And. Yeah. Which was a real pleasure. And because Stevie. I first met Stevie, he was about 15 or 16, and he had a huge hit called Give Me Some Loving. I'm a Man. And Keep on all produced by Jimmy Miller, who later was the same guy that produced our stuff, you know, and so that was our connection. I hardly ever seen him since, you know, so it was really. He was on stage. I remember I threw some fish in the piano or something. Cause it was a. Last night, some bizarre story, you know, and we never forgot it. Yeah. So that was really great to have Stevie join in. Yeah.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

The fact that you guys have kept your. That blues bass sound all these years, has that been important to you? I mean, you've gone through. In the 80s. There was a little disco sound occasionally with the times. But at the end of the day, you've been a blues band.

[Keith Richards]

You don't think about that. You know, it's. It's in.

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And.

[Keith Richards]

Yeah, this is the way it goes.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Right, right. That's just it.

[Keith Richards]

Let's build him.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

But I think for as popular as you guys are, to carry on that blues legacy and to let people know. Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry from Rock and roll, that in some ways, you're carrying that legacy.

[Keith Richards]

Everything that you listen to now and listen to before. There is something about the blues which is, like, beautifully consistent and has something more than just the obvious. The blues. There is a musical thread through it and through popular music. You know, even when it's not an obvious blues, you can hear the blues in it.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

That's right. That's right. It's the foundation of the whole thing.

[Keith Richards]

Yeah. It's the great American gift, man.

[Unidentified Guest 2]

Yes.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Would you, Keith, like to get back out on the road and play some of these songs when you guys are ready?

[Keith Richards]

I'd love to. I don't think it's gonna happen this year. Yeah, but I. We were working this record, you know, and. But basically, the road of working this, you know, working by it again is absolutely, I think, you know, on the plans probably next year.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Great. Okay.

[Willie Geist]

All right.

[Keith Richards]

Well, we've got millions of years.

[Willie Geist]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

I mean, I don't sense any reason or any inclination from you guys to step away. You're still going full speed at this point.

[Unidentified Guest 1]

You.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

You gonna keep going like this?

[Keith Richards]

Sure, of course. What else now am I gonna change?

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Well, we certainly hope you do, man.

[Keith Richards]

Thank you so much. Nice to talk to you, man. Thank you. Pleasure.

[Interviewer (Willie Geist)]

Appreciate it.

[Keith Richards]

Great to see you.

[Willie Geist]

My big thanks to Keith Richards for spending the time. The latest Rolling Stones album, Foreign Tongues, is out on July 10th. And my thanks, of course, to all of you for listening again this week. If you want to hear more of my conversations with our guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday Today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews with your own two eyes. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down Podcast.

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