2 Times Keith Richards Needed to Issue an Apology to Mick Jagger

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger have been working together for 60 years. In that time, they wrote music together and became members of one of the biggest bands in the world. They’ve also gotten into many arguments. Richards explained that he considers Jagger a brother, so the fights haven’t done too much damage to their working relationship in The Rolling Stones. Still, he has had to issue at least two public apologies to Jagger over the years.

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger have disagreed over the years

Jagger and Richards have known each other for years. In the 1980s, after two decades of working together, their relationship took a turn for the worse. 

In what Richards described as World War III, Jagger decided to work on his solo career instead of touring for The Rolling Stones’ Dirty Work. Since then, the two bandmates have bickered often. 

“Mick sent us a letter saying he wouldn’t tour,” Richards wrote in his memoir Life. “He wanted to get on with his solo career. Soon after the letter came, I read in one of the English tabloids of Mick saying the Rolling Stones are a millstone around my neck. He actually said it. Swallow that one, f***er. I had no doubt that some part of his mind was thinking that, but saying it is another thing. That’s when World War III was declared.”

Keith Richards insulted Mick Jagger with his memoir

In 2012, Richards published Life, a candid memoir. In it, he detailed his problems with Jagger, referencing their issues in the 1980s, the rude nicknames he used to use for him, his distaste for Jagger’s solo career, and his belief that Jagger had a “tiny todger.”

The book received positive reviews, but it also drew a lot of attention for the fraught way Richards described his relationship with Jagger. Richards explained that while he didn’t regret what he wrote, he did apologize to Jagger.

“As far as the book goes, it was my story and it was very raw, as I meant it to be, but I know that some parts of it and some of the publicity really offended Mick, and I regret that,” he said, per The Scotsman, adding, “What some of our detractors forget is that, although we look like old codgers living an ocean apart, we are still at bottom the boys on platform three at Dartford Station.”

Most recently, the guitarist made comments about Jagger’s fatherhood

Several years later, Richards issued another apology. In an interview, he joked about Jagger, who had recently become a father again at the age of 73. 

“It’s time for the snip — you can’t be a father at that age,” he told The Wall Street Journal (per The Washington Post). “Those poor kids!”

This time, he spoke about how he regretted his comments. 

“I deeply regret the comments I made about Mick in the WSJ which were completely out of line,” he tweeted. “I have of course apologised to him in person.”

Despite this, Jagger and Richards have managed to continue working together in The Rolling Stones.