The Rolling Stones have reportedly cancelled plans for a European tour in 2026.

The legendary British band took 2025 off the road and previously spent the summer of 2024 on the road in North America, which led to speculation that they were set to return to Europe in 2026 for a stadium tour.

However, according to a new report from The Sun, The Rolling Stones have nixed plans for the tour due to Keith Richards, who turns 82 later this week, being unable “to commit” to an extensive tour.

A source told the publication, “The Rolling Stones had all the big promoters throwing loads of ideas and dates at them for next summer. 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.”

The report has since been backed up by Variety and NME.

Richards’ reasoning for being unable to commit has not been disclosed. However, in 2023, he opened up to BBC Radio 4’s Today about the impact that arthritis had on his guitar playing, explaining: “Funnily enough, I’ve no doubt it has, but I don’t have any pain: it’s a sort of benign version. I think if I’ve slowed down a little bit it’s probably due more to age.”

The guitarist continued: “And also, I found that interesting, when I’m like, ‘I can’t quite do that any more,’ the guitar will show me there’s another way of doing this. Some finger will go one space different and there’s a whole new door just opened here. And so you’re always learning. You never finish school, man.”

Only last month, the band’s longstanding pianist, Chuck Leavell, hinted that The Stones were planning a European tour. “They don’t want to hang up the rock ’n’ roll shoes yet. There’s no doubt in my mind,” he said of the band’s current status.

Leavell continued, “We’ve done a good bit in the US the last few years, so I think the likelihood would be somewhere else and my best guess would be probably Europe.”

News of The Rolling Stones planning to play a series of shows in Europe was also revealed in an interview with Richards’ son, Marlon Richards, who told Record Collector earlier this year, “I think they’re planning a tour of Europe”.

It was previously reported that The Rolling Stones were due to hit the road in 2025 across the continent, including dates at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

Instead, they chose to stay off the road to work on a follow-up album to 2023’s Hackney Diamonds. Andrew Watt, who produced the aforementioned LP, confirmed his involvement in the new record a few months ago, cryptically telling Rolling Stone, “When the tongue is up in the air, you just go… I can say we did some recording together, but that’s all I can say.”