Sir Mick Jagger has hit back at Sir Paul McCartney’s recent dig at the Rolling Stones, with a tongue-in-cheek retort.
In an interview with The New Yorker earlier this week, Beatles frontman Sir Paul was a little less then generous towards his fellow long-standing British rock ‘n’ roll icons.
In discussing his band’s vast array of influences, the 79-year-old took a jab at the Stones, describing them as ‘a blues cover band’.
The singer-songwriter said: ‘I’m not sure I should say it, but they’re a blues cover band, that’s sort of what the Stones are. I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs.’
Now, Sir Mick has had his public say on the matter, with a humorous aside to the crowd during a concert at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on Thursday.
Describing it as ‘so great to be back in LA’, the Paint it Black singer continued: ‘There’s so many celebrities here tonight, naturally. Megan Fox is here, she’s lovely. Leonardo DiCaprio. Lady Gaga…’
He then added: ‘Paul McCartney is here; he’s going to help us – he’s going to join us in a blues cover later.’
We assume the joke shows no bad blood between the pair, especially with Sir Paul in attendance.
However, the Live and Let Die singer is no stranger to taking digs at the Stones, having last year insisted that The Beatles were much better than the Brown Sugar hitmakers, who have recently retired that song from their set.
He told Howard Stern: ‘They are rooted in the blues. When they are writing stuff, it has to do with the blues. We had a little more influences … There’s a lot of differences and I love the Stones, but I’m with you. The Beatles were better.’
Sir Mick, 78, hit back while speaking to Zane Lowe, pointing out that The Beatles never did an arena tour.
‘They broke up before the touring business started for real…They did that [Shea] stadium gig [in 1965]. But the Stones went on. We started stadium gigs in the 1970s and are still doing them now.
‘That’s the real big difference between these two bands. One band is unbelievably luckily still playing in stadiums and then the other band doesn’t exist.’
The Rolling Stones are currently continuing their long-postponed No Filter Tour in the aftermath of drummer Charlie Watts’ death in August, aged 80.
Long-time Stones associate Steve Jordan has taken over drumming responsibilities.
Meanwhile, Sir Paul recently revealed that the Beatles, who split up in 1970, did so at the behest of John Lennon, who ‘instigated’ their ‘divorce’, despite fans believing for years that it was Sir Paul’s decision.
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