A new collection spanning five decades of Bill Wyman’s solo recordings will be released on 20 November 2026, bringing together music from 1974’s Monkey Grip through to 2024’s Drive My Car. Available as a 2CD collection and a 12-track LP, The Best Of is available to pre-order now, with limited-edition signed copies available exclusively from the official Bill Wyman online store.
Released by Demon Music as Bill celebrates his 90th birthday, The Best Of looks back across a remarkable solo career that has run in parallel with some of the most celebrated music of the past half-century.
The 2CD edition brings together 40 tracks. Disc One features 20 recordings from Bill’s solo catalogue, while Disc Two turns to Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, with a further 20 original songs, interpretations and live recordings from the band. The LP offers a specially selected 12-track journey through Bill’s solo work.
Five decades of music
Bill released his first solo album, Monkey Grip, in May 1974 while still very much occupied with his day job as bass player in “the world’s greatest Rock ’n’ Roll band”.
It was already a sign that his solo recordings would provide somewhere to pursue his own musical interests. The album brought together an extraordinary group of musicians including Dr. John, Leon Russell, Little Feat’s Lowell George and Crosby, Stills & Nash drummer Dallas Taylor.
Over the albums that followed, Bill continually changed direction, experimenting with different styles, sounds and new recording technology. The early 1980s produced two UK Top 40 singles in ‘(Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star’ and ‘A New Fashion’, while his solo records gave him the freedom to develop his own approach to songwriting and to record with an ever-changing collection of friends and musicians, among them were Van Morrison, Joe Walsh, Chris Rea, Ray Cooper, Robbie McIntosh and Guy Fletcher.
Those different stages of Bill’s solo career run throughout The Best Of, from early tracks including ‘I Wanna Get Me A Gun’, ‘Mighty Fine Time’ and ‘Monkey Grip Glue’, through ‘Come Back Suzanne’, ‘Stuff (Can’t Get Enough)’ and ‘What & How & If & When & Why’, and into more recent recordings including ‘Thunder On The Mountain’, ‘Drive My Car’ and ‘Bad News’.
Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings
The second disc celebrates another hugely important part of Bill’s musical life.
In the 1990s, Bill began putting together what he called “my own band”: Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings. He later described the experience as being “almost like doing solo albums (but) with a lot of friends.”
Built around Bill’s love of R&B, blues and Rock ’n’ Roll, the Rhythm Kings combined his own songs with music drawn from the great American songbooks. What began as a recording project quickly developed into a hugely popular live band. Indeed, Bill takes particular pride in having played almost as many gigs with the Rhythm Kings as he had with the Rolling Stones during the previous three decades.
The line-up evolved over the years around musicians including Georgie Fame, Gary Brooker, Andy Fairweather-Low, Albert Lee and Beverley Skeete, while the recordings also featured appearances from friends including Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Mark Knopfler.
Disc Two of The Best Of captures that side of Bill’s music with tracks including ‘Green River’, ‘Melody’, ‘Anyway The Wind Blows’, ‘Spooky’, ‘Mojo Boogie’, ‘Taxman’ and ‘Going Up The Country’, together with live versions of ‘Drown In My Own Tears’, ‘Jitterbug Boogie’ and ‘You Never Can Tell’.
The Best Of – 2CD track listing
Disc One – Bill Wyman
- I Wanna Get Me A Gun
- Mighty Fine Time
- Monkey Grip Glue
- White Lightnin’
- Peanut Butter Time
- If You Wanna Be Happy
- Ride On Baby
- A New Fashion
- Visions
- Come Back Suzanne
- (Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star
- Like A Knife
- Stuff (Can’t Get Enough)
- She Danced
- What & How & If & When & Why
- I Lost My Ring
- Love, Love, Love
- Thunder On The Mountain
- Drive My Car
- Bad News
Disc Two – Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings
- Green River
- Melody
- Anyway The Wind Blows
- Spooky
- Mojo Boogie
- Tell You A Secret
- Groovin’
- Love Letters
- Boogie Woogie All Night Long
- Disappearing Nightly
- Roll ‘Em Pete
- Mississippi Flyer
- Taxman
- Booty Ooty
- Cadillac Woman
- Going Up The Country
- Dr Watson Mr Holmes
- Drown In My Own Tears (Live 05/03/08)
- Jitterbug Boogie (Live 25/01/2004)
- You Never Can Tell (Live 15/06/04)
LP track listing
Side One
- I Wanna Get Me A Gun
- Monkey Grip Glue
- White Lightnin’
- Ride On Baby
- A New Fashion
- Come Back Suzanne
Side Two
- (Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star
- Stuff (Can’t Get Enough)
- What & How & If & When & Why
- Thunder On The Mountain
- Drive My Car
- Bad News
Pre-order The Best Of
The Best Of will be released on 20 November 2026 and is available to pre-order now on 2CD and LP.