The Rolling Stones have shared a new vinyl-only single as The Cockroaches, titled ‘Rough & Twisted’. Listen below.
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The legendary band prompted rumours of their return recently after cryptic posters popped up around London.
They featured the name ‘The Cockroaches’ – a past pseudonym used by Mick Jagger and co. – along with a QR code that directed fans to a new website, copyrighted to the Stones’ label, Universal Music.
Last week, a teaser video was shared on an Instagram channel under the name ‘thecockroaches2026’. This featured a caption that read: “64 & Counting”, a reference to the number of years since the group was founded.
In the clip, an unidentified man wearing a “Who The Fuck Are The Cockroaches?” T-shirt puts on a white label 12” record and sits down to listen. The track opens with a dirty blues electric guitar riff, and it cuts off just as the unmistakable sound of Jagger’s voice says: “Do it!”
Now, a full rip of ‘Rough & Twisted’ has been uploaded online after the single was released as a vinyl-only “white label” record last Saturday (April 11). The physical edition was limited to just 1,000 numbered copies at independent record shops worldwide, and has since sold out.
“Yeah, why don’t you drive me/ Down that rough and twisted road?/ Why don’t you guide me/ ‘Cause I don’t know which way to go?” Jagger sings over distorted guitar in the first verse.
The frontman later adds: “Yeah, all you feed me was just rancid ricе and bones/ All I drank was muddy water/ As lonely as a saxophonе/ Why don’t you take me/ To where I wanna go? To Natchez, Mississippi, Sicily and Rome.”
Jagger, who we find on the road to Puerto Rico, then sings of “tyranny and all that crazy, crazy fucked-up stuff” ahead of a harmonica and guitar solo.
In the comments section on TikTok, one fan described the song as “early ’70s Stones” with “today’s production and engineering”. Someone else wrote: “This is so killer holy shit.” On Instagram, another person hailed the track’s “big blues(rock) sound”.
Check out The Cockroaches’ ‘Rough & Twisted’ here:
@georginapascoe Replying to @ssstafford531 The Cockroaches/The Rolling Stones – Rough and Twisted. Full song. #RoughAndTwisted #TheRollingStones #TheCockroaches #vinylcollection #recordcollection
♬ original sound – ⚡️georgina • vinyl • gigs • cd
The single serves as the first taste of The Rolling Stones’ as-yet-untitled new album, which is slated for release in July. It’ll be the band’s first full-length effort since 2023’s Grammy-winning ‘Hackney Diamonds’.
The Stones have again joined forces with Andrew Watt, who produced their aforementioned previous LP. The Times has reported that the new project 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.
Watt revealed last year that he had been working with the Stones again to help them make another album. Later, guitarist Ronnie Wood confirmed reports that new music was in the works, saying the LP was finished and due to arrive in 2026.
Despite their return with new material, The Rolling Stones are unlikely to announce a full tour anytime soon. In late 2025, they confirmed that they scrapped plans for a UK and European stadium tour in 2026 because Keith Richards was unable to “commit” to it.
The group embarked on their North American ‘Hackney Diamonds’ tour in 2024, with the trek landing at Number Six on the highest-grossing music world tours of that year. The Rolling Stones last played the UK in 2022, when two huge BST Hyde Park gigs followed a stadium concert in Liverpool.