The Rolling Stones Mick Jagger faced criticism from The Beach Boys’ Mike Love at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Here’s what Love said.
The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger received a great honor when his band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, Mike Love of The Beach Boys got on stage and called him “chickens—” that night. Here’s a look at why Love made these infamous comments — and what he was trying to say.
Mike Love wanted to fight with The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger via satellite
The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Rolling Stone reports Love used the occasion to criticize a number of famous musicians, including Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul McCartney. He took a handful of potshots at The Rolling Stones and Jagger in particular.
“The Beach Boys did about 180 performances last year,” he said. “I’d like to see the Mop Tops match that! I’d like to see Mick Jagger get out on this stage and do ‘I Get Around’ versus ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash,’ any day now.” He added “I’d like to see us in the Coliseum and he at Wembley Stadium because he’s always been chickensh*t to get on stage with The Beach Boys.” Beach Boys touring guitarist Jeff Foskett said the comment was meant as a challenge but it came out wrong.
The same evening Love made those comments, he bumped into Jagger. “Well, it’s funny, he threw one of my tuxedo shoes off the stage during the jam session and I threw one of his off and we were acting like idiots and juveniles,” Love told Rockcellar Magazine. “So I told him, ‘The reason [l] said some of that stuff on stage is if we ever fight by satellite it’ll be worth a lot of money’ and he laughed and said, ‘That’s good, that’s good.’”
Were the Stones as successful as The Beach Boys?
Love had some critical things to say about Jagger, however, The Beach Boys were not as successful as The Rolling Stones in the United States. The Beach Boys released 15 songs that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 including the No. 1 singles “Kokomo,” “I Get Around,” “Good Vibrations,” and “Help Me, Rhonda.” The Beach Boys released two albums that topped the Billboard 200: Endless Summer and Beach Boys in Concert.
On the other hand, The Rolling Stones released 23 singles that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Of those, eight reached No. 1, specifically, “Angie,” “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Paint It Black,” “Miss You,” “Honky Tonk Women,” “Get Off My Cloud,” “Brown Sugar,” and “Ruby Tuesday.” In addition, nine of the band’s albums reached the top of the Billboard 200: Some Girls, Sticky Fingers, Out of Our Heads, Tattoo You, Exile on Main St., Emotional Rescue, Goats Head Soup, It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll, and Black and Blue. Love and Jagger never fought by satellite, but they were both members of successful and legendary rock bands.
