Maybe the third time will be the charm for the Rolling Stones and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
The Stones are set to headline the 2024 Jazz Fest on Thursday, May 2, as part of a 16-date tour in support of the band’s well-received new album, “Hackney Diamonds.”
The Hackney Diamonds Tour kicks off April 28 at Houston's NRG Stadium. Jazz Fest is the second date of the tour and the only festival on the itinerary; all other shows are in stadiums.
Twice before, Jazz Fest’s producers have announced that the legendary rock band would be part of the festival, only for the plans to fall through.
The May 2, 2024, date is four years to the day after the Rolling Stones were originally slated to perform at the Fair Grounds.
A limited number of single-day, day-specific tickets for the 2024 "Rolling Stones Thursday" will go on sale to Louisiana residents Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. Central Time for $225 plus fees. That presale continues through Nov. 30 at 10 p.m. Residents with a Louisiana billing zip code can purchase up to six single-day tickets.
A Rolling Stones flag flies under a New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival flag at the Acura Stage during Widespread Panic's performance at the Fair Grounds on Thursday, May 2, 2019, the day the Rolling Stones were originally scheduled to perform at Jazz Fest.
General admission Jazz Fest four-day weekend passes go on sale to the general public Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. An "early bird" four-day general admission wristband for the second weekend, including the Rolling Stones day, is $465 plus fees. The price increases to $495 after the early bird offer expires.
A four-day first weekend "early bird" wristband is $290; the price then increases to $320.
Jazz Fest has a new "general admission-plus" option for 2024. GA+ wristbands grant access to a covered lounge with private restrooms, a full-service bar and shaded areas; the GA+ wristband also grants re-entry to the Fair Grounds.
The early-bird pricing for GA+ wristbands is $499 for the first weekend, $749 for the second weekend, plus fees. The prices bump up to $549 and $799.
The festival's various VIP packages are also available starting Dec. 1.
All tickets will be sold at www.nojazzfest.com.
A history with New Orleans, Jazz Fest
The Rolling Stones were initially booked for the 50th anniversary Jazz Fest in 2019; they were to have headlined a specially structured Thursday at the Fair Grounds. But the Jazz Fest stop on the band’s No Filter Tour was scuttled so singer Mick Jagger could have heart valve replacement surgery.
Instead, the Stones performed at the Superdome on July 15, 2019, after postponing that concert by a day because of the threat of Hurricane Barry.
The Stones were then a surprise addition to the roster of the 2021 Jazz Fest, which had been moved to October of that year because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the entire 2021 Jazz Fest ended up being canceled because of COVID.
That something special was afoot for the second Thursday of this year's Jazz Fest was tipped when the festival announced in September that Thursday, April 25, had been added to the 2024 festival's first weekend.
That opening Thursday will be "Locals' Thursday," with discounted $50 tickets for Louisiana residents.
The remainder of the 2024 Jazz Fest roster is expected to be unveiled in January.
Mick Jagger dances around the stage at the Rolling Stones show at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Monday, July 15, 2019.
The Stones’ founding drummer, Charlie Watts, died in August 2021. Jagger, 80, and guitarists Keith Richards, 79, and Ronnie Wood, 76, are now the band's principal members. They are backed by an ace team of musicians on the road and in the studio.
The upcoming Hackney Diamonds Tour is sponsored by AARP, which has also been a Jazz Fest sponsor in recent years.
Throughout their decades of touring, the Rolling Stones have rarely visited New Orleans.
On July 14, 1978, they topped a bill at the Superdome that included Van Halen and the Doobie Brothers.
A Dec. 5, 1981 show with the Neville Brothers and George Thorogood at the Dome reportedly set a record for the largest indoor concert crowd, though not everyone believes the “official” attendance number is accurate, or even possible.
The Stones' “Steel Wheels” tour hit the Dome on Nov. 13, 1989. They returned to the same building on Oct. 10, 1994 for a date on the “Voodoo Lounge” tour.
It would be another 25 years until they performed in New Orleans again.
After the band's appearance at the 2019 Jazz Fest fell through, the festival's producer/director, Quint Davis, and his Festival Productions Inc.-New Orleans played a role in the promotion of the Stones’ Superdome concert in July 2019.
But that wasn’t the same as trumpeting a daytime performance by the band at the Fair Grounds.
Mick, Keith, Ronnie and the rest will try again this spring.
“‘The Rolling Stones at Jazz Fest’ is a long-held prophecy coming true," Davis said in a news release. "The festival thanks Mick, Keith, Ronnie and (promoter) Concerts West for their steadfast dedication to making this once-in-a-lifetime Jazz Fest magic. The pilgrimage starts today. Come get satisfied."