Rolling Stones' Keith Richards says he's 'not friends' with frontman Mick Jagger

18 December 2023 , 13:04

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Rolling Stones' Keith Richards says he's 'not friends' with frontman Mick Jagger

As one of the original band members of The Rolling Stones, it's perhaps understandable that Keith Richards would bicker with his bandmates after 60 years in the spotlight.

But it seems the relationship between Mick Jagger and Keith is far more fractured than once thought after candidly admitting that he's not friends with collaborator Mick.

Speaking about their fractured bond, Keith, who turned 80 years old today [18 Dec] wrote in his explosive book, Life : "Mick and I may not be friends – too much wear and tear for that.

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has been part of the rock band for 60 years (PA)

Keith Richards says he is not friends with Mick Jagger but they are brothers (zz/Mitch Gerber/STAR MAX/IPx)

He went on: "We’re the closest of brothers, and that can’t be severed. How can you describe a relationship that goes that far back? Best friends are best friends. But brothers fight," he insisted. As soon as the father of five first met Mick as a teenager, their instant connection proved successful as they started to make waves in the music industry.

But things turned sour between the pair when Keith was arrested in 1977 in Canada for possession of heroin. Keith had been heavily using the drug for almost 10 years and Mick took control and looked after him during that time. In his memoir, Keith recalled that Mick was on his side to start with: "I have to say that during the bust in Toronto, in fact during all busts, Mick looked after me with great sweetness, never complaining. He ran things; he did the work and marshalled the forces that saved me. Mick looked after me like a brother."

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But after swerving prison, Keith was forced to pay a fine, attend rehab and perform two charity concerts for free - something, it has been claimed, Mick was left fuming about. After his release from rehab, Keith noticed that he had lost control in the group. And by 1981, the tension between the pair was going from bad to worse. They managed to release track Tattoo You, but had to record their vocals at separate times of the day as they barely spoke.

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger had an instant connection when they first met (Getty Images)

It wasn't until Mick Jagger's interview with Rolling Stone Magazine that it became public that the friendship between the two musicians was at breaking point. Promoting his second solo album Primitive Cool, Mick revealed that The Stones had reached the end of their journey.

He said: "We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, and this is one of the low moments. I love the Stones, I think what we’ve done is wonderful, but I also think it’s done. At my age [he was 46 years old] and after all these years I have to do something else in my life. I feel like I have the right to do it."

And this did not sit well with Keith and the other members of the band. Frustrated with Mick's disinterest in the sell-out rock band, Keith pursued his own solo career but the pair reunited in 1989 and recorded Steel Wheels. And the band went on tour for the first time in seven years.

Lucretia Munro