Mick Jagger on New Music from The Rolling Stones

Summary

Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

Episode: Mick Jagger on New Music from The Rolling Stones

Date: June 14, 2026
Guest: Mick Jagger
Host: Willie Geist
Main Theme: The Rolling Stones’ new album "Foreign Tongues," the band’s creative process, legacy, influences, and cultural relevance.

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Episode Overview

In this lively and in-depth conversation, Willie Geist sits down with rock legend Mick Jagger to discuss "Foreign Tongues," the Rolling Stones' 27th U.S. album of original material. Jagger shares insights into the Stones's writing and recording process, reflects on the band’s enduring legacy, discusses collaborations with icons like Paul McCartney, and offers candid thoughts about the state and evolution of music culture today. The episode blends nostalgia, cultural commentary, and behind-the-scenes stories, offering fans and newcomers alike a window into the Stones' artistry and staying power.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Thrill of Release: Still Exciting After All These Years

• Mick Jagger’s Emotions Before an Album Drop
  • Even after decades, the anticipation and nerves are present.
    • Quote: "You spend a lot of time in it and it's your baby... you want other people to like it... You want them to take notice." (03:22 — Mick Jagger)
  • "Foreign Tongues" is mostly new material — 10 tracks recorded fresh, with a few others from previous sessions.
    • Quote: "We did 10 new tracks for this album, which we recorded in London, and four were from the previous sessions... and one from before that." (03:59 — Mick Jagger)

2. Writing and Recording: A Changed Process

• Creative Efficiency
  • Jagger and the band have shifted from lengthy studio jams to a more pre-arranged, focused approach.
    • Quote: "We did the 10 tracks in four weeks. That's pretty quick. We used to spend months in the studio..." (05:18 — Mick Jagger)
  • Preps more before entering the studio so the band can quickly build on his demos.
• Evolution of the Jagger-Richards Partnership
  • Writing chemistry is both familiar and changing; they often write separately and later bring ideas together.
    • Quote: "We write a lot on our own... then we got together in New York and played each other stuff that we'd written." (06:39 — Mick Jagger)

3. In the Studio: The Stones’ Energy

• Vibrant Even Off-Stage
  • The band’s passion is undimmed; Jagger describes being unable to sit still when recording uptempo tracks:
    • Quote: "You just get taken by it... I can't keep still when I'm doing that stuff." (07:17 — Mick Jagger)

4. Collaborations & Beatles/Stones Rivalry

• Paul McCartney’s Involvement
  • McCartney guests on the new album, seamlessly shifting styles:
    • Quote: "He plays one song on this, which is kind of like a melodic rap song. But he... is really in the groove." (08:02 — Mick Jagger)
• Relationship with McCartney & the Beatles
  • Early support in the '60s and enduring camaraderie.
    • Quote: "He did sing with us in the 60s... I've never written with Paul... Andy was saying you should write one with Paul, but we never got round to it." (08:41 — Mick Jagger)
  • The infamous "Beatles vs. Stones" rivalry was as much PR as reality.
    • Quote: "There was an element of truth in it... but I think there was a lot of element of PR in it too." (09:21 — Mick Jagger)

5. The New Album & Future Touring

• Songs Jagger is Excited to Perform
  • Jealous Lover, Mr. Charm, and Rough and Twisted are among his favorites to play live.
    • Quote: "Jealous Lover. I'd like to sing that... Mr. Charm... Rough and Twisted could be good." (11:30 — Mick Jagger)
• Tour Prospects
  • No shows planned for this year, but a return to touring is anticipated.
    • Quote: "I don't think we're gonna do shows this year. But hopefully we'll do shows in next year." (11:54 — Mick Jagger)

6. Sound, Styles, and Legacy

• Classic Stones, Yet Always Changing
  • Jagger pushes back on pigeonholing the Stones as a "classic rock" band:
    • Quote: "You think of them as a classic rock band... but in reality, there's very little classic rock on the album... there's dance tunes, there's country music, ballads, blues..." (12:48 — Mick Jagger)
  • On evaluating new work against the legendary run of late '60s/early '70s albums — Jagger stresses that great albums reveal themselves over time.
    • Quote: "You have to take a step back... was that one of your best albums? I don't know at this point." (13:08 — Mick Jagger)
• Desert Island Albums
  • Favors Sticky Fingers and Beggars Banquet as personal highlights; lists Hackney Diamonds as another strong effort. (16:10 — Mick Jagger)
  • On picking one iconic Stones song: Impossible, given the band’s stylistic breadth — from "Sympathy for the Devil" to "Angie" and "Honky Tonk Women". (16:32 — Mick Jagger)
  • The constant thread remains their devotion to the blues:
    • Quote: "Everything that the Stones do is blues inspired... our first love was blues... we have this huge debt to black music, you know, that we always acknowledged." (17:14 — Mick Jagger)

7. Blues, Soul & Cultural Influence

• Paying it Forward
  • Jagger discusses the Stones’ roots in blues, soul, and gospel, and the band’s longstanding acknowledgment of their debt to Black American music.
    • Quote: "We owe this huge debt to those people... We start as fans and then end up playing with these people, which is an amazing thing. And you learn an awful lot." (20:14 — Mick Jagger)
  • Memories of meeting and playing with icons like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, and mentoring/impacting new listeners.
    • Quote: "It's kind of surreal [to go] from a fan... to playing with them." (22:28 — Mick Jagger)
  • The lineage from blues and soul, through Motown and James Brown, shaped not just the Stones but their peers like the Beatles.
    • Quote: "I think the Beatles were influenced by Tamla Motown... And then that leads you into... James Brown and so on..." (24:15 — Mick Jagger)

8. On Contemporary Music and Listening Habits

• How Jagger Approaches Modern Music
  • Mixes casual grazing with deeper dives into classics; enjoys a range of new pop but doesn’t obsessively track charts.
    • Quote: "The way I consume pop music is the way I consume candy... sometimes I have a binge... then I have a little break." (27:02 — Mick Jagger)
  • Still returns to the blues greats and finds new layers in old records.
    • Quote: "I go back to listen to Robert Johnson, and I go, wow, he's still amazing. I've heard things I thought I'd heard everything in there, but it's still something." (27:37 — Mick Jagger)

9. Never Slowing Down

• Continued Motivation to Write and Record
  • Jagger remains as prolific and driven as ever.
    • Quote: "I think I have a lot more songs to write... I don't want to slow down, particularly." (28:04 — Mick Jagger)
  • Shares a glimpse into his songwriting process — inspiration can strike anywhere, and his collaborators encourage him to capture those moments.
    • Quote: "I just started it. I just got the chorus, I was singing Jealous Lover, and the phone rang... Andy says, that's great, that's great, carry on. Don't stop." (29:08 — Mick Jagger)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On nerves and excitement (03:22):

  • “It's your baby, and you want other people to like it... You want them to take notice.” — Mick Jagger

• On creative pace (05:18):

  • “We did the 10 tracks in four weeks… that's pretty quick. We used to spend months in the studio.” — Mick Jagger

• On McCartney’s musicianship (08:02):

  • “He plays one song on this… he’s really in the groove. ...He’s a really good bass player.” — Mick Jagger

• On Stones/Beatles rivalry (09:21):

  • "There was an element of truth in it... but I think there was a lot of element of PR in it too.” — Mick Jagger

• On the Stones’ eclecticism (12:48):

  • “There's... dance tunes, country music, ballads, blues... that’s what I think the best albums have, a bit of everything.” — Mick Jagger

• On the blues influence (17:14):

  • “Everything that the Stones do is blues inspired... our first love was blues... we have this huge debt to black music, you know, that we always acknowledged.” — Mick Jagger

• On modern music consumption (27:02):

  • “The way I consume pop music is the way I consume candy... sometimes I have a binge... then I have a little break.” — Mick Jagger

• On not slowing down (28:04):

  • “I think I have a lot more songs to write... I don’t want to slow down.” — Mick Jagger

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Key Timestamps

• 03:03: Conversation begins — Release excitement and creative process
• 08:00: Collaborating with Paul McCartney & thoughts on Beatles rivalry
• 11:30: Favorite new album tracks and future touring plans
• 14:31: Reflecting on classic Stones albums and musical variety
• 17:10: The Stones' blues inspiration and musical debt
• 22:28: Meeting blues legends — surreal moments and cultural impact
• 24:47: Involvement in the James Brown film & documentary
• 26:09: Thoughts on contemporary pop and listening habits
• 28:04: Remaining prolific — songwriting insights

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Conclusion

Mick Jagger’s conversation with Willie Geist provides both a masterclass in rock longevity and a heartfelt tribute to music’s connective tissue through genres and generations. The episode paints a picture of an artist both rooted in history and restlessly creative, as inspired by Muddy Waters as he is excited by modern pop, and as energized rocking a stage as in a writing binge at home. For Stones fans and music lovers alike, this is a celebration of tradition, reinvention, and the pure joy of making music together — no matter the decade.

Transcript

[Naomi Girma]

My community gives me the confidence to ask myself, what would you like the power to do? So every time I'm on the pitch, I play for more than myself.

[Mick Jagger]

Oh, what a tackle from Naomi Girma. Absolutely brilliant.

[Bank of America Announcer]

Bank of America champions U.S. women's national team Member Naomi Girma and everyone who dares to ask, what would you like the power to do? Bank of America Proud to be the Official bank of US Soccer bank of America NA Member FDSE the Disney Plus

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[Willie Geist]

be okay or not.

[Disney Plus Hulu HBO Max Announcer]

And season three of the HBO original series House of the Dragon on HBO Max.

[Mint Mobile / Ryan Reynolds]

You have power within your cross.

[Disney Plus Hulu HBO Max Announcer]

Get the Disney plus Hulu HBO Max bundle today. All of these and more streaming soon plan starting at 19.99amonth terms app. Visit disney/hulu max funnel.com for details.

[Willie Geist]

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. Man, do I have a big one for you today. I think we can agree. I think it's fair to say he is the biggest rock star of them all. A true music icon. Mick Jagger Mick and I got together in New York to talk about the Stones new album. It's called Foreign Tongues. Full disclosure, I've been a Stones fan since I was a kid. I grew up in a Stones house. My dad, my mom, my uncles, everybody listened to the Rolling Stones. I've been and see Mick a bunch of times from a young age to recently. And so every once in a while you get to meet some incredible people in this job and sit across from and have long conversations with people you've looked up to and admired. But this just feels like something else. I mean, Mick Jagger to me lived on some different planet and there he was sitting across from me. We had a great conversation about this new album, Foreign Tongues, but also about the band, the history of the band. They put some drums on this new album from Charlie Watts, the late great Charlie Watts who died in 2021. They had some recorded drums that they put onto a song. Paul McCartney plays bass on this album. So we talk about the old Stones Beatles rivalry from the 60s and then we talk about some of his favorite albums. Obviously these are difficult decisions to make, but they had a run there in the late 60s, early 70s of what many people critics say are some of the Four or five best albums of all time, and they all came from the Stones in about three and a half years. So we talk about that. Talk about whether or not we'll see the Stones touring again. Back out on the road, a great conversation. He and I just sitting in a hotel room with a bunch of people standing around us doing this interview. I don't really need to say much more to introduce Mick Jagger, do I? So let's get right to it. Mick Jagger on the Sunday Sit down podcast.

Mick, thank you for doing this.

[Mick Jagger]

Nice to see you.

[Willie Geist]

Great to see you as well. Congratulations on the album Foreign Tongues.

[Mick Jagger]

Thank you.

[Willie Geist]

By my math, this is your 27th US album of original material.

[Mick Jagger]

Okay.

[Willie Geist]

Do you still get that thrill or those nerves or whatever the Emotions are on the eve of an album release?

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah. Yeah, you do, because, you know, you spend a lot of time in it and it's your baby and. And you know, you want other people to like it or, you know, you know that not everyone's gonna like it and they're not maybe gonna like everything, but. But, you know, they hope that it's not just, you know, oh yeah, you know, not just, oh, yeah. Well, it's not interesting. You want them to take notice, you know, of what you've done. And I guess, I mean, I didn't really think about it like that, but everyone asked the same thing, you know. Cause when you make your first record, you're obviously hugely excited. I can remember that. And then. But you know, as you say, the 27th is not quite the same, but I mean, we hadn't made an album for 18 years, and then we made Hackney Diamonds. I mean, we've been. We've made a blues album. We didn't make original material. So Hackney diamonds had the 18 year waiting list. So, yeah, you know, so we did this one, you know, it's like not so long waiting for the next new one. So we did 10 new tracks for this album, which we record in London, and four were from the previous sessions from the Hackney diamond sessions, and one from before that. So, yeah, most of it's pretty new.

[Willie Geist]

It does feel like you're in a bit of a groove. Hackney was only three years ago, and as you say, bigger bang was 18 years before that.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Are you feeling those creative juices flowing at the moment? Yeah, yeah.

[Mick Jagger]

I mean, I'm like. I write all the time. Really. I mean, that's the thing. You. You don't. I mean, I think. I think you just get into a groove of writing that's good and Then, you know, working with Andy Watts, really helpful because he makes it all go so fast. There's no hanging around. And we have a plan of how we're gonna do it and how we're gonna. You know, how we're gonna do it, like X amount of weeks. And we. We did the 10 tracks in four weeks.

[Willie Geist]

That's amazing.

[Mick Jagger]

That's pretty quick. I mean, we used to spend months in the studio, writing in the studio, you know, like, I know you two still do this, and so we used to write in the studio, and then whatever came out, you know, would be. You know, we got great things out of that. But these days, that didn't seem to be working. So I do a lot of prep on the songs. So I prep the songs and do demos a lot of the songs. And so I know where they should go, where I think they should go. And then you hope that the band will take them somewhere much further than you've imagined, which sometimes happens.

[Willie Geist]

Is the process of writing songs with Keith much different than it was years back when you were doing.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah, I mean, there was a lot of processes of writing songs with Keith in the old days. I mean, we used to sit around with, you know, and just doodle and, you know, with a little tape recorder or actually start off with a big tape recorder. So long ago. And, you know, I used to write mostly lyrics and then. But I used to have to write the top lines because, you know, guitar player writers often come up with a lot of great chord sequences or little bits of melody, and you have to fill the rest of it in. It's a lot of times a sketch. But over the. We know we. We've written in all kinds of different ways, and we write a lot on our own, you know, so. And. And I. You know, I don't. We do a lot of this stuff, not writing. And then we got together in New York and played each other stuff that we'd written.

[Willie Geist]

I've seen some of the videos behind the scenes making the album, some of them at the event yesterday. And if anyone's wondering if you guys still enjoy the process of making music, go watch these videos. I mean, you could be 25 years old again, the way you are together.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

The way you're creative together. And honestly, watching you perform these songs and takes of songs as if you're at Wembley or something. You're dancing, you're moving around the room. Is that how you do it?

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah. Well, when you get really rocker, you know, you don't, like, sit in an armchair doing It. Just because you're in the studio, no one's looking. You just get taken by it, you know, and certainly in the ballad, you know, if you've got a ballad, you don't want to do that, but you wouldn't do that on stage, you know, and. But if you've got a real rock, you take a. You know, use a handheld mic, you know, and. Or you. I mean, I can't keep still when I'm doing that stuff. But you gotta be on the mic.

[Willie Geist]

We learned that a bit, didn't we? Yes. Moving the mic around.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah, you don't.

[Willie Geist]

One of the really cool things about this album, among many, is some of the guests who join you.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Including Paul McCartney.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah. How did that come about? Paul played on the last. On the Hackney Diamonds, and he played one. He plays one song on this, which is kind of like a melodic rap song. But he plays really. He plays really good. He's really in the groove. Very different because on the last album he played one. What was more as a punk tune. Yeah, but this is more like a soul tune kind of a groove. But he's really got ability to swap styles. I mean, he's a really good bass player.

[Willie Geist]

Your musical relationship with Paul McCartney these days seems like you get along great and then you enjoy making music together. Has it always been that way?

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah, he did sing with us in the 60s on a couple of tunes, him and John, and they were like. We were going through a really hard time and they were very supportive and we were making a record and it was difficult and so. But I've never written with Paul, which is kind of. I mean, I don't think he really writes with anyone else. But I mean, Andy was saying you should write one with Paul, but we never got round to it.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, well, there's time. Clearly you're still finding the group. I mean, there was always this, are you Beatles, Are you Stones? All through the years. Was that just sort of a false creation from Outsiders? Did you feel like rivals?

[Mick Jagger]

I think it was an element of truth in it and. But I think there was a lot of element of PR in it too.

[Willie Geist]

Right, right.

[Mick Jagger]

But it was also London, Liverpool, so it's a bit like la, New York, you know. I mean, not that Liverpool's like la.

[Willie Geist]

No. Slightly different.

[Mick Jagger]

Not really. But yeah, there was that. Obviously that was a good talking point for press to get onto.

[Willie Geist]

Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Mick Jagger right after the break.

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[Mick Jagger]

Oh, what a tackle from Naomi Girma. Absolutely brilliant.

[Bank of America Announcer]

Bank of America champions U.S. women's national team member Naomi Girma and everyone who dares to ask, what would you like the power to do? Bank of America proud to be the Official bank of U.S. soccer bank of America. NA Member FDSE the Disney Hulu HBO

[Disney Plus Hulu HBO Max Announcer]

Max Bundle the best in entertainment in one bundle this month, stream Disney and Pixar's blockbuster family favorite hoppers on Disney. FX's critically acclaimed the Bear. Season five on Hulu, everything's either gonna

[Willie Geist]

be okay or not.

[Disney Plus Hulu HBO Max Announcer]

And season three of the HBO original series House of the Dragon on HBO Max.

[Mint Mobile / Ryan Reynolds]

You have power within your cross.

[Disney Plus Hulu HBO Max Announcer]

Get the Disney plus Hulu HBO Max Bundle today. All of these and more Stream soon plan starting at 19.99amonth terms apply. Visit Disney plush hulu max bundle.com for details.

[Willie Geist]

Welcome back. Now more of my conversation with Mick Jagger.

Do you have a song on this album that you are most excited to play for people? Is there one? You go, okay, I can't wait to get out and play it for a crowd.

[Mick Jagger]

Jealous Lover. I'd like to sing that. You know, I mean, there's a lot of them. Mr. Charm, I'd like to do that one live. I really look toward doing that one live. Yeah. Rough and Twist off did his tune.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Mick Jagger]

Rough and Twisted could be good.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that raises the question, is there a chance you guys will get out and play these for crowds, go on tour?

[Mick Jagger]

Well, I'd love to. You know, I really want to. And I'm ready to go, but I don't think we're gonna do shows this year. But hopefully we'll do shows in next year.

[Willie Geist]

You'll be back out on the road. Okay. Your fans will be very excited to hear that. Very excited to hear that. It seems to me, just listening to this, that this is classic Stones, this album. And by that I just mean it's just great blues inspired rhythm guitar. Your voice sounds great. Thank you. Does it feel like a classic Stones album?

[Mick Jagger]

I don't. Yeah, I don't really know. I mean, it has a lot of styles on it, you know, in A way. And I think that's what's a good thing about the Rolling Stones. And I said this yesterday, but the Stones, you think of them as a classic rock band and everything, but in reality, there's very little classic rock on the album.

[Willie Geist]

Really?

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah, a lot of it is. Is. Is. There's, you know, there's dance tunes, there's, like, country music, there's ballads, there's blues, you know, So I think that when you say it's a classic stuns album, to me that means that's like one of the best ones.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Mick Jagger]

You know what I mean? Right. Is it one of the best ones? I think you have to give it time, you know, even. I don't know, at this point, you know, you have to take a step back from it and say that was. You know, that in itself was a. Was. You know, that was one of your best albums, or it was. Had good things. I mean, a lot of stuff you look back on and you go, you know, first of all, there's some Rolling Stones albums that have eight tracks. I mean, you only had eight tracks. I mean, we only record 20 tracks in 10 days. You know, you had eight tracks and you were like 30 years old. Come on, what are you doing? And, you know, and then. And then out of those eight tracks, you look back at it, you go, well, you know, I like three of them, but I don't really like all of them.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Mick Jagger]

You know, and. And. But that at the time, obviously you like them all. So I don't know what to say,

[Willie Geist]

I guess by classic, I just mean it sounds like your best stuff.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah, well, that's what you hope. You hope that everyone. You hope that every track has got something for everyone. And not everyone's taste is that kind of. This kind of style, or. Not everyone's taste is that song. And so, you know, that's why you've got, you know, 14 tracks.

[Willie Geist]

So talking about classic albums, I was thinking about your run of about three and a half years, from 68, starting with Beggars Banquet to 72, I guess with Exile, those four albums.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah, those. Those were really good albums. And. And. And probably nearly all of the tracks have got something to say. You know, nearly every track's got something to say. There's no fillers in things. I mean, these days, things are not quite the same. You've got to remember that. I mean, we all talk about albums and we talk about album covers, but very few people, including myself, really listen to a whole album anymore.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Mick Jagger]

Of course, there are people that do. But they're a minority. So you. You really pick and choose. I mean, we always did that. We played the opening track of an album and play two tracks and, okay, I'll play something else. Or you play if you really love this artist, you. But. But now, you know, most of. Most of the time you listen to things online, you know, and. And so you pick and choose. And if you like a new album of someone, you. You play the first couple of tracks and that's enough. And if you really like those, then you might. I might. That's my. What I do is I dig into it later and I go on. Okay, I let the album play and I put the album on, not the track online. And I listen to the album playing. I discover things, you know, that one doesn't like. Bang. No. You know, Ah, no. Then you find something really interesting that you wouldn't have found, you know, maybe. So it's a different way of discovery, I think.

[Willie Geist]

Or sometimes one grows on you that you didn't like initially, and then it takes on a new meaning as you listen to it more. So there's a parlor game among Stones fans about the Desert Island Stones album. I just listed a group of them.

[Mick Jagger]

Okay.

[Willie Geist]

Do you have a favorite Rolling Stones album?

[Mick Jagger]

I mean, I. I mean, I think Sticky Fingers is really good. I think Beggars Banquet is really good. I think Hackney Diamonds is pretty good, too.

[Willie Geist]

How about a song? If there's one song that you could

[Mick Jagger]

look back and say, I think one song, there's like hundreds of songs, I understand.

[Willie Geist]

But if there's one that you say, that is us at our best, that song.

[Mick Jagger]

I mean, there's so many different styles. I mean, you, You. You're running the gamut of Sympathy with the Devil, you know, Start Me Up, Angie, Honky Tonk Women. All these are great, but they're all very different. You know, one's a samba, one's a ballad, one's a rock. You know what? You know, that's what I like about so many stars. That's why it's hard to pick one. And that's why I don't mind the Stones being like classic rock. But they. In my mind, they're really not. They're not that. Because they're not playing. There's no album with the Rolling Stones where you hear 12 rock tunes in a row. There isn't one.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, and they're all blues songs at the end.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah, there's always blues songs.

[Willie Geist]

Yes.

[Mick Jagger]

There's always blues songs. And everything is very blues tinged. You know, so a lot of rock bands, obviously a lot of rock bands are blues, blues inspired, you know, so we're the, we're the only one. But there are a lot of indie bands that, that I really like, but they're not very blue blues inspired. But you can, you can like them and everything. But everything that the Stones do is blues inspired. So the rock numbers come out with that, you know, the, the samba song comes out with that, you know, nearly all and even the ballads come out with that. So, you know, it's in our first love was blues and everything and we have this huge debt to black music, you know, that we always acknowledged. And so we're inspired by that initially and obviously we want to take it into our own styles and create our own changes in that and create our own music. But we're always in debt to that and I think you can hear it in every song.

[Willie Geist]

Stick around for more of my conversation with Mick Jagger right after a quick break.

[Naomi Girma]

My community gives me the confidence to ask myself, what would you like the power to do? So every time I'm on the pitch, I play for more than myself.

[Mick Jagger]

Oh, what a tackle from Naomi Girma. Absolutely brilliant.

[Bank of America Announcer]

Bank of America champions U.S. women's national team Member Naomi Girma and everyone who dares to ask what would you like the power to do? Bank of America Proud to be the Official bank of U.S. soccer bank of America NA Member FDSE the Disney Hulu

[Disney Plus Hulu HBO Max Announcer]

HBO Max Bundle the best in Entertainment in one bundle this month streamed Disney and Pixar's blockbuster family favorite Hoppers on Disney. This is incredible. FX's critically acclaimed the Bear Season 5 on Hulu.

[Willie Geist]

Everything's either gonna be okay or not.

[Disney Plus Hulu HBO Max Announcer]

And season three of the HBO original series House of the Dragon on HBO Max.

[Mint Mobile / Ryan Reynolds]

You have power within your cross.

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[Mint Mobile / Ryan Reynolds]

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[Mick Jagger]

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[Willie Geist]

welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Mick Jagger.

Whether you intended it or not to, you've elevated so many blues artists just by talking about them sometimes, certainly playing with them. Has that been a gratifying byproduct of your work?

[Mick Jagger]

Well, I mean, we owe this huge debt to those people. You know, first of all, we love them just as fans. And before we were blues players or even thought about it, being a blues. I never thought about actually being a blues player when I was 13. You know, it wasn't what. You know, it wasn't what white kids from the suburbs did. You became like you were more like Buddy Holly or something. But I mean that all those people were also influenced by the blues as well. So you didn't think of yourself like that. But then, yeah, then you start to see those people live. You start to meet them, you know, and. And then eventually, amazingly, you start playing with them. And so this whole. This whole thing, you know, which start. You start as a fan and then you end up playing with these people, which is an amazing thing. And you learn an awful lot.

[Willie Geist]

And it's been that way, as you say, since you were a child. Basically thinking of the moment you and Keith had that now famous meeting on the train platform in Gartford.

[Mick Jagger]

But even before that, when we were playing, both Keith and I were. And many other people that we still are around were interested in that kind of music from when we were like 13 years old. And we would. We would play mostly acoustic. We would buy acoustic blues albums. You know, they would be on the television. They would do tours of England and see them on the television. That's how your first. Your first influences came from that. And so we were always very interested in that. And gospel, too. A lot of gospel music came through England. You know, Sister Rosetta Tharp, these kind of. Mahalia Jackson, these kind. They were often on television. And as there was only two television stations, you watched them. You know, you were kind of a captive audience and you watched them. And so I think these were very influential on our early. All of our early musical upbringing.

[Willie Geist]

How extraordinary to have a Muddy Waters record under your arm as a kid riding the train and then to walk in one day to Chess Records and play with Muddy Waters gets to be surreal, right?

[Mick Jagger]

It's kind of surreal. It is surreal. And it wasn't a very long gap in reality, in years. We're not talking that many years until you met all these people and, you know, met them all. And we're under all kinds of weird Circumstances when we were doing a promotion, Hollywood promotion, singles show with Go Go dancers. And Howlin Wolf came, you know, I mean. I mean. And we got him on the show and Howlin Wolf came in it. You know, they'd never had anything but just teen, you know, songs. And then Howlin Wolf was there. And Howlin Wolf brought with him this famous old blues singer called Sun House who goes back to. This is back to the 30s. It goes back to the Robert Johnson with the cross Rose with the blues.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Mick Jagger]

This is like really, you know, and I met Sonhausen, you know, I never thought I would meet him. And you know, it's just. In a Hollywood studio, it's just very odd. It's just very odd.

[Willie Geist]

Sure. Yeah. But you've had that kind of impact too, that I grew up on your music. And I learned about those guys because you played with them or talked about.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah, well, that's a cool language. I mean, that's good. You know, I mean, you got a lot. And then after that you had a whole lot of intermingling of influences. And so that, you know, everyone was. Don't forget that we also had the huge amounts of influence of soul music and gospel music and the Tamimo Town being so popular. And that was the intro into soul music for a lot of people. Like the Beatles. Yes. You know, I think the Beatles were influenced by Tamina Motown.

[Willie Geist]

Yes.

[Mick Jagger]

And they used to do covers of Tamla Motown. And a show which we never. We never did that, you know, because we were supposedly a blues band, but they used to do covers. And then. And then I think after that, that leads you into the more kind of like slightly unknown. And then leads into James Brown and Owens and so on and so on, which we always have mine.

[Willie Geist]

I was just telling you backstage here that one of the last times we saw each other was on the set of the James Brown movie. The late great Chadwick Bosman was there. But even that to be able to help to bring to life the movie about James Brown.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah, well, that was great. And Chad was such. That was Chad's second movie. Cause he did the biopic. Did two biopics on the trucks. He did Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson. And then he did the James Brown movie. And he was so great in that. And he really channeled James Brown perfectly. I thought what was also fun in that period was doing the documentary on James Brown because with all his musicians talking about him in this kind of very tongue in cheek way, this type of sort of skating over some of the, you know, telling the stories about how bad he was. I mean, bad in whatever way he wants to say bad, but telling him about him, you know, his strange behavior or how he behaved if you stepped out of line and all this.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Mick Jagger]

But yeah, that was a fun documentary to make.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, that was. And the film was beautiful too, with Chadwick. Before I let you go, Mick, you were talking about the state of music and how we all listen to singles, which is very true. I'm curious, are there contemporary artists that people might be surprised you're a fan of? Is there someone on the charts right now? Oh, he or she's cool.

[Mick Jagger]

No. Okay. I like a lot of, you know, this is a lot of pop music, really, you know, but I mean, the way I consume it is like anyone, you know, I'm not like necessarily a huge fan and listen to everything that everyone does, you know, that maybe, you know, I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan. So I listen to Bob Dylan a lot, but, you know, with pop music, I just. It's more like grazing a lot. It's a lot of grazing. And you just put that playlist on and you hear what's happening this week or last week and, you know, and something hits you. Ah. You know, and my son said to me, oh, Zara Larson's having a big comeback. And I said, well, she never went away from me. I. I said, I like to since ruin my life, you know, so. And I said, why are you not. I was like, just what I like. And that's when I'm in that mood. That's what I like.

[Willie Geist]

Right. So you still are tuned in, you know what's going on?

[Mick Jagger]

I don't know everything that's going on. But what I'm saying is the, the way I consume pop music is. Is. It's. Is the way I consume candy, you know, it's. It's like sometimes I have a binge of it, you know, and I'm binge on that chocolate, whatever. And then I've had enough and I have a little break from it, you know, and then I don't know what's going on, you know. Right. I've lost touch for three weeks. I don't know what the hits of the last three weeks are.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Mick Jagger]

And then I go back in again.

[Willie Geist]

Right. That's probably a good way to do it. A little sampler.

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah, it's a sampler. And then I go back to listen to Robert Johnson, you know, and I go, wow, he's still amazing. I've heard things. I thought I'd heard everything in There, but it's still something. I just heard the way sang that

[Willie Geist]

a century later, you're still hearing something new.

[Mick Jagger]

It's a century later.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Mick Jagger]

Is it? Totally, yeah. To think of it like that, it

[Willie Geist]

doesn't seem, Mick, that you're slowing down at all. When I listen to this new album, do you expect to continue to put out music every couple of years?

[Mick Jagger]

Yeah, I think I have a lot more songs to write. So, you know, I hope, you know, I wrote a lot of stuff and I hope to be writing more. So, yeah, I don't want to slow down, particularly. I don't feel like slowing down. I mean, I don't see why I should. But I. I think when you do. Songwriter's a weird thing because you just. Once you. You need time to get going, and once you get going, it starts to come, you know, you don't get frustrated. The first few days, you're not going to write necessarily going to write anything, you know, that's amazing. And then, like fifth day, you start writing, things start coming, you know, and when we're doing like I was. I was playing the piano and I had this. I just came to a drum machine and I was doing this song, jealous Lover, and I just started it. I just started it. I just got the chorus. I was singing Jealous Lover, and the phone rang and I was. And. All right, answer. It was Andy. I said, andy, hang on a minute. I'm right in the middle of doing this chorus. He says, that's great, that's great. Carry on. Don't stop. I'm hanging up. Don't stop. Call me when you finished it. That's how. Andy. So that bumps me up a bit,

[Willie Geist]

you know, a look inside the process. We will take as much music as you can possibly put out. Mick, thank you so much and congratulations. Lovely to see you again.

[Mick Jagger]

So much.

[Willie Geist]

Thank you.

My huge thanks to Mick Jagger for the time and thoughtful conversation. The latest Rolling Stones album, Foreign Tongues, comes out on July 10, and of course, you can hear their full catalog wherever you stream your music. My thanks also to all of you for listening again this week. If you want to hear more of my conversations with our guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday Today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews with your own two eyes in full living color. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit down podcast.

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[Mick Jagger]

going to be okay or not.

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[Mint Mobile / Ryan Reynolds]

You have power within your grasp.

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Get the Disney plus Hulu HBO Max Bundle today. All of these and more streaming soon. Plan starting at 1999amonth. Terms apply. Visit Disney/hulu max bundle.com for details.