Stones frontman talks new tour, Aretha and acting
Musical icon says new music he’s writing is ‘going good’
NEW YORK— Mick Jagger likes a buzz. A natural buzz. The Rolling Stones frontman, who will tour North America next spring with his iconic band, says live shows give him a rush that can’t be matched and are the reason that, at 75, he still loves touring.
“When you go out in front of all those people you get an enormous rush of chemicals in your body: your own chemicals, not chemicals you’ve put in,” he said laughing.
In an interview Monday, Jagger talked about the tour, having only three Grammys and appearing in the new-but-old Aretha Franklin concert documentary Amazing Grace. What can fans expect from the U.S. shows?
A good night out! A good night out for all. We did a kind of similar tour in Europe this summer, so it’s got a lot of fun. How’s the new music you’re writing coming along?
It’s going good. I’ve got lots of stuff. I’m doing some more writing this week. And I’m always, like, messing around. I enjoy the writing process a lot. Were you happy with the success of the band’s blues album, which won a Grammy this year?
That was good. We weren’t really setting out to do that. It just happened. It was a fun thing to do. It was … stuff we’d known for years since we were kids and played in like clubs and we knew it all pretty well.
I’m surprised the Stones only have three Grammys, when other acts have 10 or 20. Does that bother you?
No, I don’t really care about Grammys very much. I’m not saying it’s not nice to have, it’s lovely to have. But it’s not going to break my heart if I don’t get Grammys and if my Grammys count is not as big as other people’s. I saw you in the new Aretha documentary.
I didn’t even see it yet! … It was like an amazing event. It was so delayed and long, and I don’t think Aretha wanted it to come out for whatever reasons and there were so many technical problems with the sound, but I’m glad it’s out and I can’t wait to see it. What do you remember about working with filmmaker Nicolas Roeg, who died a couple days ago and directed you in 1970’s Performance?
He was a wonderful filmmaker and I only worked with him that one time, and he was co-directing.
I know you’ve produced a lot lately, from TV shows to documentaries, but do you want to do more acting?
I just actually finished doing a cameo part in a movie which is kind of a twisted thriller, which is called The Burnt Orange Heresy. I just finished doing that in Italy. I did a couple weeks on that, so it’ll be out next year.