When Paul McCartney made a comment about the Rolling Stones in a recent magazine article, it was just a matter of time before Mick Jagger would be asked to share his thoughts on the Beatles icon’s words.
“I’m not sure I should say it, but they’re a blues cover band, that’s sort of what the Stones are,” McCartney told The New Yorker this week, adding: “I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs.”
Jagger pre-empted the predictable media questioning with a comment of his own during a Stones concert in Los Angeles. “There are so many celebrities here tonight,” he told the crowd. “Megan Fox is here, she’s lovely. Leonardo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga, Kirk Douglas – misread that one. And Paul McCartney is here; he’s going to help; he’s going to join us in a blues cover later on.” The moment can be seen in the video below.
The decades-long rivalry between the Beatles and the Stones last made headlines in 2020, when McCartney told Howard Stern: “Their stuff’s rooted in the blues. When they are writing stuff, it has to do with the blues. Whereas we had a little more influences. There’s a lot of differences.” He added: “I love the Stones, but I’m with you. The Beatles were better.”
Jagger, who described McCartney as “a sweetheart,” responded by saying: “There’s obviously no competition!” before continuing: “The big difference… sort of slightly seriously, is that the Rolling Stones have been a big concert band in other decades and other eras when the Beatles never even did an arena tour, [like] Madison Square Garden with a decent sound system. They broke up before that business started, the touring business for real.”
Mick Jagger Responds to Paul McCartney
The Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts Year by Year: Photos 1962-2020
We collected dozens of pictures of the drummer below for Charlie Watts Year by Year: Photos 1963-2020.