When NME is ushered, quietly, into the spacious west London hotel suite reserved for our 30-minute on-camera interview with Mick Jagger, the legendary Rolling Stones frontman is nowhere to be seen. He’s next door, an aide tells us, getting changed. He didn’t like his jacket.
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In what iconic outfit from the band’s storied career might he emerge, we wonder – the floaty Hyde Park blouse from Brian Jones’ 1969 tribute? Or one of his 1970s sequinned, velvet jumpsuits? Surely not the massive fluffy black cape, designed to look like a gorilla’s fur, that he wore during renditions of ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ on the ‘50 & Counting’ tour more than a decade ago?
In the end, it’s something simpler – a smart, spotty shirt and the kind of tailored leather blazer that has become a recent favourite of Hollywood’s Gen-Z elite. Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler and Jacob Elordi have all appeared in one recently. Could the choice be a statement of Jagger’s current creative ethos – to be modern and relevant, but remain cool-as-fuck?
On the Stones’ new album, they’re exactly that. Recorded in London, LA, New York and The Bahamas over several years, 25th studio effort ‘Foreign Tongues’ is a souped-up greatest hits of the band’s go-to sounds – R&B, rock, country, soul, funk, punk, disco – invigorated by Jagger’s witty lyrics about modern life and love. It is nostalgic yet topical. Classic while looking forward. Familiar but fresh.
“When we started, The Stones was a blues band,” he says. “Brian [Jones] was a real purist, but I don’t think that Keith and I were ever like that… We loved the blues, but we’ve always liked every kind of pop music. I mean, our first self-written single was ‘The Last Time’ which was just a copy of a gospel song.”
For the latest in NME’s In Conversation video series, Mick shares his memories of a sprawling career, tells us off for sticking the boot in and recounts the time he had to remove an “out of it” Liam Gallagher from a dinner party.
Hi Mick, NME first interviewed you in 1964 – what do you remember about those early chats?
Mick Jagger: “Well, this is quite a long time ago. When I was first reading it as a kid, NME was famous for liking everything. You could get either a three or four-star review. You never only got one.“
What changed?
“It became famous for being really rude to everyone. No one was any good, except for very obscure people that no one had ever heard of and probably would never hear of again.”
And where did The Rolling Stones come in on that scale?
“I came through quite a lot of bad times… you weren’t fashionable because you had to be new in the NME‘s eyes.”
Were you careful about what you said during those interviews?
“No, you weren’t very careful. You’d say all kinds of things. People would say terrible things that they shouldn’t have said.”
In one issue from February 1974, you said your first single, ‘Come On’, was “really shit”
“It was pretty bad.”
And in the same interview, you called The Beatles “blasé and bigheaded”
“Sometimes I do speak the truth! [laughs] They did a lot of great things, and they blazed a lot of trails. No other band had been famous in America. It was a closed shop.”
Let’s talk about new album ‘Foreign Tongues’, with The Cure’s Robert Smith on it…
“Yeah, Andy Watt [producer] invited him to come and listen to some of the tracks because we’d almost finished… I said, ‘Let’s get him to do something.’ So he sings on ‘Never Gonna Lose You’ – and he does a few synths.”
And he played guitar on ‘Divine Intervention’ too?
“Yeah, it’s a sort of an indie lick.”
How did Keith Richards react to him muscling in on his territory?
“He wasn’t there [on that day]! Keith was well away in Greenwich or Connecticut somewhere.”
And Paul McCartney plays bass on ‘Covered In You’?
“Yes, he did that on the same session as he did ‘Bite My Head Off’ for ‘Hackney Diamonds’. The new tune is more of a funk bass part.”
Paul told us that he was “really chuffed” to be on a Stones album – how was he in the studio?
“It was very easy. Obviously, I’ve known Paul for ages. He’s not a stranger, but he’s never played bass with us before. It’s a different thing, you know. I said to Andy [Watt], ‘Is he gonna be into this because it’s a punk tune and I want overdriven bass. It’s gonna be simple, no mucking about.’ And Paul did exactly what was needed in, like, 10 minutes.”
You’ve also got Bruno Mars on cowbell for ‘Never Wanna Lose You’?
“[Laughs] Bruno came by the studio in LA when I was finishing off vocals – and we played him a few tracks. But everyone has to work in our studio. So I was like, ‘Go get a beer or a biscuit or whatever and play cowbell’.”
You had a Grammy-winning megastar in the studio, and you asked him to play cowbell?
“Yeah! But he wants to do that. He’s a percussionist as well, you know. He’s like me. I like playing maracas on people’s records.”
And Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers played drums on a cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Beautiful Delilah’…
“He only plays like 10 bars. I thought I was gonna play the bass drum on that [because it’s acoustic]. But Andy brought Chad in and put me out of a job. Chad knew it wasn’t a big feature.”
What was the thinking around including a cover of ‘You Know I’m No Good’ by Amy Winehouse?
“I think it’s all part of the slight Britishness of it. Ten of the tracks [on the album] were recorded in London… We did pretty much her arrangement. The same key – and I did the horn part on harmonica which was fun cos it’s always fun to play harmonica in a minor key.”
It’s been five years now since Charlie Watts died, but he plays on ‘Hit Me In The Head’?
“Yeah, he plays really well on it. We did that in Los Angeles in 2021, before he died.”
NME did his final filmed interview before that – and he was telling us how you used to get annoyed with him for not having a mobile phone?
“Yeah, it was a pain! It really felt like he was living [in the past]… I mean, come on, this is when everyone had an iPhone. We’re not going back to the ’60s here!”
But he was like that, wasn’t he?
“Yeah, he was. I miss him a lot.”
Can you tell us about the time Liam Gallagher was asked to leave your house?
“I vaguely remember him coming to the house in Richmond… I think he was well out of it.”
He said he had just taken a pill?
“I mean it wasn’t like a physical altercation. I think he just realised that it was time to go. I think it was a get-together, like a dinner party.“
Glastonbury returns next year – would you headline again?
“It’s a difficult gig to do… the stage is very odd. It’s so disjointed, and you’re so far away from everyone. We normally have a 50-feet walkway, and we only had 10 [at Glastonbury]. I mean it is great when you look up the hill and you see everyone, it’s fantastic. There’s no doubt about it. Do I wanna do it again? Oh, I’ll say yes.”
So that means we haven’t seen the last of the Stones on stage?
“Hopefully not. I don’t think there’ll be shows this year, but I hope to do some next year for the Stones.”
Why not this year?
“Keith couldn’t commit, and he wasn’t feeling so great about touring and everything. Which leads you on to the question of residencies…”
Like a Las Vegas residency?
“Well, no. I mean more like Harry Styles doing [multiple shows] in Amsterdam and London. But then he’s still touring though; he’s not just staying in one place. But we are gonna get live dates in for next year, hopefully… I’ll let you know when I know.”
Is there another album in the tank, too?
“Yeah, it could be a trio [of records]… I’ve already started writing songs anyway. They could be for other people though. When you write a song, you sometimes decide ‘that’s not for me, but it could be for the Chili Peppers’ or whatever.”
Are you writing much for other artists at the moment?
“I’m very open-minded to it. I’ve got a lot of stuff, and not all of it’s suitable for The Rolling Stones. It shouldn’t stop me writing them, you know. If you get an idea, just write it.”
What newer bands do you recommend?
“I’ve had my Sam Fender moment lately. I thought ‘People Watching’ was excellent, but I liked his earlier stuff too – ‘Seventeen Going Under’, there’s some good stuff on that album.”
What is it about Sam Fender’s music that you like?
“It’s always the same when you hear songs for the first time. It’s just the general vibe and then the grooves. It’s rock music, you know, but his songs have good choruses – which is part of the game… I think a lot of the lyrics are really interesting too and reflective of his experience growing up.”
He feels perfect for an on-stage cameo at a Stones gig, maybe on ‘Tumbling Dice’?
“Yeah, he might be really good for that.”
The Rolling Stones’ new album ‘Foreign Tongues’ is out July 10 via Polydor Records