News The band Mick Jagger called “absolute rubbish”
Mick Jagger is a tricky figure to pin down. While being one of the most beloved figures in music and a friend to many stars, Jagger has also had some choice words for other artists throughout his career. From the top of the music food chain, The Rolling Stones frontman isn’t shy about throwing verbal daggers – and one band was cut deep.
As a musician, it would be tricky to know how to ever recover if the Mick Jagger criticised your work. The frontman is held up as one of the world’s finest, managing to endure as a leading figure from almost the day the band began and long into today. As the Stones continue to tour and release music, his grip shows no sign of loosening as fans still scramble to see him grace the stage.
While Jagger seems to have mellowed in his autumnal years, now being more than happy to pair up with modern artists like Lady Gaga or Florence Welch, or even their 1960s peers like Paul McCartney, a few decades back, Jagger was a hard act to please. In the 1970s, especially, he was more than happy to say exactly what he felt about other bands.
For example, he once declared that the Sex Pistols should “retire next year”. He described The Strangers as “fucking nauseating” and even called Iggy Pop’s bad “ropey”. But one band got an especially savage review in 1977.
“Oh God, Aerosmith!” Jagger moaned when asked about the group. At the time, Aerosmith had risen fast. After their 1975 album Toys In The Attic came out, they were considered one of the biggest acts around thanks to hits like ‘Walk This Way’ and ‘Sweet Emotion’. Steven Tyler was rivalling Jagger as one of the world’s leading frontmen, but he didn’t impress the Stones singer.
“They’re just rubbish – absolute bullshit,” Jagger said, not holding back on his judgement. He gave Tyler a slight moment of grace but not for his musical ability as he added, “The singer is quite a nice guy, mind you. He’s almost too bloody sweet. He’s very kind to me, anyway.”
But even that minor compliment was a veiled dig as he said it with a sarcastic smirk. “Yeah, you know what I mean,” he continued with the implication that Tyler’s kindness wasn’t a good thing in his books. “He’s such a little sweetheart, really – what can you do with him?”
Jagger knew exactly what he’d like to do to him. “Punch him in the mouth?” he added, acting out what seemed to be his dream fantasy, “Here, what are you playing at, fuckin’ impersonating me? – Slam!”
Jagger’s implication that Tyler was merely a copycat stuck around. After years of comments and jokes about their rivalry, it definitely got under Aerosmith’s skin. In 2013, Tyler said, “We’ve always just played our music and haven’t given a shit. Still, the ‘Cheap imitation of the Rolling Stones’ criticism was constant. And it hurt for the first couple of years.”
He continued, “It was constantly Mick Jagger this and Mick Jagger that – that I copied him, and Janis Joplin too. Mick was the cheapest, easiest shot. ‘Well, he looks like him, so let’s write about that.’”
Band member Joe Perry attempted to put it to bed, slamming the critique and claiming anyone who agreed with it simply wasn’t listening, stating, “You could tell that they weren’t listening because we definitely weren’t sounding like the Stones.”
But that didn’t last long as Tyler kept the ball rolling, adding, “Done our best to try to, though.”
