(NEW YORK) - The Chieftains have four new albums in the pipeline, among them Tears Of Stone, a long-awaited collaboration with Joni Mitchell, Sinead O'Connor, Joan Osborne, theCorrs and Sheryl Crow. |

Tears of Stone is due later this year from BMG. In addition the Chieftains released Fire In The Kitchen June 16 on their own still-untitled label; the album was recorded with Celtic musicians from Canada's Cape Breton region.

Christmas From The Vatican," to be recorded with the Pope's own choir, is provisionally due this fall, and in early September, the group is due in the studio again to record an album titled The Chieftains In Ireland.

Says the band's Paddy Moloney: "We realized we hadn't made a traditional Irish album in ages,so it seemed like time."