musicians continuing to strut their stuff
into very old age?
“Rock’n’roll, or any kind of pop music
honestly, isn’t supposed to be done
when you’re in your seventies,” Jagger
says. “It wasn’t designed for that. Doing
anything high-energy at this age is really
pushing it. But that makes it even more
challenging. So it’s, like, ‘OK, we’ve got
to f***ing do this right,’ but it’s got to be
as full-on as possible. Of course you
could do another type of music — we’ve
got lots of ballads. I could sit on a chair.”
Wait, the man known as Snake Hips
reborn as a Val Doonican tribute act?
“I don’t see it quite as Val Doonican,”
Jagger says with a laugh. “I remember
something about a cardigan? I mean,
Perry Como used to sit on a stool.”
Still, they look after themselves,
when in tour mode at least. Their 1975
American tour was fuelled by cocaine,
Richards wrote in his memoir, but now
it is more about health than hedonism.
For Jagger, whose partner is a balle-
rina, that means “six weeks of practice
even before rehearsals start. And I do
dancing, gym, every day of the week. I
don’t enjoy it very much, but it has to
be done.”
Even Richards’s pre-gig ritual is
more sedate than it used to be. “I may
or may not have a stiff drink, but usu-
ally I don’t. You know, you grow out of
everything. I’ve spent all my life giving
up things, so that’s about it now.”
Wood likes a green juice “and after
all my battles in recent years withthe big C, I try to keep moving, keep
my joints warmed up — stretches
and stuff.”
Would they ever do an Abba and have
a hologram tour? “What’s the point of
that?” Richards says with a growl. “I’m
dying to leave home for a few days. I’d
never leave the house otherwise.”
Touring means navigating a mine-
field of post-Covid hurdles and extra
politically related paperwork. Yup,
here comes the B-word. “There are a
lot of supply-chain problems,” Jag-
ger says. “A lot of shortages, a lot
of problems because of Brexit.
Brexit has not been a success
for the British touring
industry. I’m not say-
ing, ‘Well, we’vegot to rejoin the EU.’ Unfortunately
that’s all in the past. But from personal
experience and talking to friends who
are in other businesses, it’s not a suc-
cess, it’s a nightmare. We’ve isolated
ourselves, and that sounds good to
some, but it’s an ideology more than a
practicality.”
Jagger has long had a reputation for
being business-obsessed and a chame-
leon — Richards once described him as
unknowable. Today, reinforcing Wood’s
remarks about everyone getting on, he
is chatty and catty, never more so than
when he describes a recent pre-tour
anxiety dream. It’s a delicious echo of
Phil Cornwell’s pitch-perfect impression
on the satirical comedy Stella Street.
“I had one dream about travelling
and the plane was trying to fly indoors,
for some reason, in this large cavern-
ous space. Like, flying the plane into
the stadium. And I’m going: ‘The wings
are going to touch.’”
The business stuff is, he contends,
“so overdone. I’m not the slightest bit
interested in business per se. I only had
to get interested because everybody
tries to con you.”
And the accusation of being a cha-
meleon? “I read an obituary in The
Times about this guy who used to work
for me called Peter Swales.” Swales,
who died this month, was an early
assistant to the Stones. “And he had
said about me, ‘Sometimes he was a
rock star; other times a drugged-out
hippie; another time a fast-talking busi-
nessman; another day my big brother.’
I hope they weren’t consecutive days.
That’s a chameleon!”
He considers the idea that he inspired
Harry Styles, who channels Jagger’s
early-Seventies look. “I like Harry — we
have an easy relationship,” Jagger says.
“I mean, I used to wear a lot more eye
make-up than him. Come on, I was
much more androgynous. And he
doesn’t have a voice like mine or move
on stage like me; he just has a super-
ficial resemblance to my younger self,
which is fine — he can’t help that.”Rolling on Mick Jagger, Ronnie
Wood, Keith Richards and Charlie
Watts. Left: the band in the SixtiesRichards, meanwhile, appears to
have had the 21st century pass him by. “I
don’t do [streaming] myself because I
don’t have a phone,” he says. “Me? I’ve
got a problem with high-tech. There are
too many damn options. When I get a
menu, if there are more than five dishes
I’m already overwhelmed.”
A new album is in the works, Rich-
ards says. “We already had some stuff
cut with Charlie. It should be coming
next year.”
Can we expect a Seventy tour in
2032? Imagine: the three of them in a
row on high stools, wearing cardigans;
some cocoa on the rider. You wouldn’t
bet against it. Long may they roll. cThe Sixty Tour opens at Anfield
stadium, Liverpool, on Jun 9;
rollingstones.com/tourWe’ve got lots of
ballads. I could sit ona chair. Perry Como
used to sit on a stoolMick Jagger
When I get a menu,
if there are more thanfive dishes I’m already
overwhelmedKeith Richards
We’ve matured
among ourselves...Mick’s come back
to this really warmperson now. Keith too
Ronnie WoodI miss Charlie as a
player and as a friendMick Jagger on Charlie Watts
THE STONES ON
THE STONES
22 May 2022 5