Mick Jagger, standing at 5’10” with a wiry build, has long been a commanding figure on stage and a rock icon. However, some of his contemporaries have questioned whether his tough-guy persona matches his onstage bravado.
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull once humorously remarked, “Mick Jagger always looked too self-conscious to be considered a tough guy; he looked like he’d fall over if you blew on him.” Even Jagger’s bandmate, Keith Richards, once suggested that the real tough guy in The Rolling Stones was drummer Charlie Watts, recalling an instance in 1984 when Watts delivered what Richards called a “lethal” punch. “He has to be badly provoked, but it carries a lot of balance and timing,” Richards noted.
While Jagger cultivated a rebellious image through run-ins with Hell’s Angels and time spent in jail, others, like Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, weren’t convinced. In his memoir, Lemmy claimed, “The Beatles were hard men,” while accusing The Rolling Stones of putting on a façade of blue-collar rebellion, calling them “mummy’s boys.”
One feud that highlighted Jagger’s disdain for imitation was with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler. As Aerosmith gained fame, their image and sound drew frequent comparisons to The Rolling Stones. Jagger wasn’t impressed. “What can you do with him? Punch ‘im in the mouth?” Jagger sneered, referring to Tyler. He criticized the band for allegedly ripping off his style, dismissing Aerosmith as “absolute bullshit.”
Despite the animosity, the rivalry eventually cooled, and Jagger and Tyler have since been seen together at industry events. When Aerosmith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Tyler joked, “I wonder if this’ll put an end to ‘Hey, aren’t you Mick Jagger?’”
Though tensions ran high in their heyday, the grudges seem to have faded, leaving behind only memories of rock ‘n’ roll rivalries that shaped the genre.
