Mick Jagger Responds to Paul McCartney’s Past Stones Comments, Says Beatles Also Began as ‘Blues Cover Band’

The Rolling Stones will release their new album ‘Hackney Diamonds,’ which includes a Paul McCartney feature, on Oct. 20

Mick Jagger. PHOTO: PARAS GRIFFIN/GETTY

Mick Jagger has some thoughts about the rivalry between The Rolling Stones and The Beatles — and how the two bands are actually quite similar in ways.

The Rolling Stones bandleader, 80, weighed in for the second time on comments Paul McCartney made several years ago in which he said that The Beatles were a better band than The Rolling Stones and called The Stones a “blues cover band.” This time around, Jagger told The Times in an interview published Saturday that he thinks the two bands had similar beginnings and ended up thanking the former Beatles vocalist/bassist for what he said.

“[McCartney] said The Beatles were better than The Stones because The Stones were really just a blues cover band,” Jagger reiterated. “Well, The Beatles were also really just a blues cover band when they started out. Every band is a cover band at the beginning, because that’s how it goes.”

Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney.DANIELE VENTURELLI/WIREIMAGE, DAVID M. BENETT/DAVE BENETT/WIREIMAGE

Originally, McCartney, 81, appeared on The Howard Stern Show in April 2020 and told host Howard Stern that he thought “the Beatles were better” than the “Paint It, Black” rockers. A year later, he continued to comment on the matter by calling the group a “blues cover band” in an interview with The New Yorker.

“I’m not sure I should say it, but they’re a blues cover band, that’s sort of what the Stones are,” McCartney said, going on to explain how he thought that The Beatles’ “net was cast a bit wider” musically.

While Jagger previously went on Zane Lowe’s Apple Music show in 2020 and said there’s “obviously no competition,” he added that he thought his rock band was more of a live act than the “Let It Be” group ever was.

“The Rolling Stones is a big concert band in other decades and other eras when the Beatles never even did an arena tour,” the vocalist said. “They broke up before that business started, the touring business for real.”

The Rolling Stones.ERIC LALMAND/BELGA MAG/AFP VIA GETTY

The “Satisfaction” performer continued to make that point in his recent interview with The Times, explaining how he turned the back-and-forth into an on-stage bit that he’s used on tour. “When we’re on tour I like to say that someone is in the audience when they’re actually not, to create a big moment, so I said one time, ‘Paul McCartney is here tonight. He’s going to come up on stage and play some of our blues cover tunes,’” he told the outlet, referring to a show at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium in October 2021.

He joked, “I texted Paul to say thank you for his comment because it has given me a lot of comic material.”

There’s ultimately no real beef between the two music legends: The former Beatle appears as a feature on The Stones’ upcoming, new album Hackney Diamonds. He joined them on the bass for the soon-to-be-released track “Bite My Head Off.”

The Grammy winners’ will release their first new album in 18 years on Oct. 20. The Rolling Stones, currently made up of Richards, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood, confirmed that the record was on the way with a special event in London in early September.

The project marks the first release from the hitmakers since the death of their drummer Charlie Watts, who joined the band in 1963 and died at age 80 in August 2021. Steve Jordan, who Watts suggested as his replacement, has since joined the group.

The Rolling Stones have already released several tracks from Hackney Diamonds: “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” a collaboration with Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder, and “Angry,” which arrived along with a music video starring Sydney Sweeney.