Richards' claims of new Stones tour, album refuted

Will they or won't they? Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards says the venerable band is poised for a return to the studio and a tour in the new year, but the band's press office has squashed the notion.

"There are no concrete plans for the Rolling Stones to tour. The same applies to rumours that they are going into the studio soon to record a new album," read a statement from the band's press office issued Friday, according to the Guardian newspaper.

Richards is currently promoting a new autobiography entitled Life, released in late October.In an interview with the BBC this week, the famed rock 'n' roller stated that he and his bandmates are "ready to go out there again."

"Who said it should stop, and who said when? That's what we want to find out. We'll know when it comes to an end, with a crashing halt," he told BBC 6 Music.

He stated that the Stones were hoping to go back on tour in 2011 and return to recording in the next few months.

"After these many years working together, we have a lot of unfinished stuff to work on that we had to leave off the last album," Richards said.

"And knowing Mick, as I do, he's a very prolific writer. I have ideas [too] and we'll put them together in December or January, something like that ... We're looking forward to working on it."

Previously, rumours that the perenially popular band was headed back on the road emerged in July, after the U.K. tabloid The Sun ran a story (citing an anonymous source) saying that an upcoming tour would be the last for the Stones.

A band representative refuted the claim.

The most recent Rolling Stones world tour, A Bigger Bang, ended in 2007. Earlier this spring, the band reissued its 1972 album Exile on Main St. to help mark the debut of the documentary Stones in Exile.