The Rolling Stones have abandoned plans for their first tour in two years – reportedly because 82-year-old guitarist Keith Richards wasn’t up to it.

It was revealed earlier this year that members of the rock band had been working on a new studio album in London as a follow-up to their 2023 release, Hackney Diamonds.

At the same time, a spokesperson told The Sun the Stones were planning a stadium tour of the UK and Europe in 2026, which would be their first time hitting the road since their United States tour last year.

Guitarist Ronnie Wood confirmed in October that the new album, in which they reunited with producer Andrew Watt, was finished. The 78-year-old also indicated that the band – including Mick Jagger, 82, and Richards – would tour again.

“Yes, we are hoping to do some dates,” Wood said at the time. “Hopefully we will be back out there but I am still waiting to find out myself.”

However, The Sun has now reported that the tour won’t be happening in 2026 because Richards didn’t feel up to it.

“The Rolling Stones had all the big promoters throwing loads of ideas and dates at them for next summer,” it quoted an American music critic as saying.

“But when they properly sat down to discuss the tour, Keith said he didn’t think he could commit and wasn’t keen on a big stadium tour for over four months.”

British music and pop culture website NME said a spokesperson for The Rolling Stones had confirmed the reports.

The band’s Hackney Diamonds tour of the US sold nearly a million tickets across 20 dates and was number six  on the highest-grossing music world tours of 2024. It reportedly earned the Stones a staggering £10,345,659 ($A20 million) per night.

The Hackney Diamonds album was the Stones’ first original album in 18 years and the only one since the death in 2021 of drummer Charlie Watts. The band said former Stones bass player Bill Wyman, new drummer Steve Jordan, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder were all involved in the recording.

It won best rock album at the Grammy Awards, with Richards’ son Marlon telling Record Collector magazine that the recognition had spurred the musicians to return to the studio.

“They gave them a Grammy, so now they’re all hyped up on that: ‘Oh, yeah, we can do another one like that! We’ve got more like that if you want’,” Marlon Richards said.

The Stones haven’t played live in England since 2022, and although no dates were officially announced, they had previously also hinted that a tour was being considered for early this year.