Sir Mick Jagger explains why copying trends is a ‘mistake’: ‘cover different musical grounds’

Rolling Stones front man Sir Mick Jagger has said he is “very aware of what’s going on around me” but thinks copying music trends is a “mistake” because they are so fleeting.

The award-winning group, widely regarded as one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time, was co-founded by Sir Mick in 1962 alongside Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and the late Charlie Watts.

Apart from being one of the best-selling rock bands, they have achieved eight UK number one singles and 14 UK number one albums in their six-decade career, and have been lauded for their longevity as they continue to produce new music.

Appearing on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks Of My Years alongside bandmate Ronnie Wood, Sir Mick spoke about keeping up with music trends as he reflected on the sustainability of The Rolling Stones.

The 82-year-old rocker said, “All of The Stones’ music has got several influences.”

“The obvious ones, blues – we talked about the blues a bit earlier – soul music of all kinds, also influenced a lot by country music and various other genres… We have moments of Elizabethan music, and so on,” he explained.

Sir Mick continued, “It’s always been a band that’s covered a lot of different musical grounds. They always say, ‘oh, the Stones are a rock band’. When you listen to Hackney Diamonds, or listen to our Foreign Tongues record, how can you say that it is pure rock?”

“It’s not many tracks that are like that – maybe two or three,” he stated, adding, “I’m very aware of what’s going on around me. I’m not addicted to it and I’m not spending my whole day listening to it, but it’s like yeah, I’m aware of what cars are on the road. I’m aware of what music is going on.”

“I have my moments where I just only listen to pop music for like two weeks, and then I go: OK, done it,” Sir Mick revealed.

The star explained that he likes to listen to “all kinds of music” from different eras and genres and then educates himself on the variety of tracks he dabbles with.

“I think it would be mistake to slavishly be into trying to copy a trend. By the time you’ve recorded the trend, the trend is gone – but you are aware of what’s going on,” Sir Mick Jagger said of copying music trends.