John Lennon Said Mick Jagger Was ‘Taking Over’ His ‘Wicked’ Reputation
The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were two of the most popular bands of the 1960s, leading to rumors of a feud between the two groups. They’ve traded jabs over the years, but members of both bands have said that there’s little truth to those rumors. Still, John Lennon was reportedly jealous of Mick Jagger. On a trip to Wales, Lennon took note of media coverage and said that Jagger was taking over his reputation.
The Beatles met The Rolling Stones in 1963
The Beatles met The Rolling Stones in 1963, at an early point in both their careers. Still, Jagger recognized the band in the audience at one of their shows.
“We were playing a little club in Richmond, and I saw right in front of me, there they were — THE FAB FOUR,” Jagger said at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, per Vermilion County First. “The four-headed monster. They never went anywhere alone. And they had on the most beautiful long, black leather trench coats.”
Jagger said The Beatles were trailblazers, even though they were frequent rivals.
“They were both rivals and they were also, I mean, they were also showing the way, ’cause they were the first at this kind of … They were kind of trailblazers in a lot of ways, and they went to the United States first, y’know, they showed the way, they were big international stars — because in England, most people have never really been stars outside of England. You had your little patch and that was it. And the Beatles kind of showed you could be big internationally.”
John Lennon said Mick Jagger was replacing him
In 1967, The Beatles traveled to Bangor, Wales, with their wives and Jagger to attend a seminar on Transcendental Meditation. The trip was highly publicized, and the band gave a press conference about the seminar. Afterward, Lennon found a reporter’s notes.
“John found a reporter’s notes afterward in one of the college’s telephone booths,” Hunter Davies wrote in the book The Beatles: The Authorized Biography. “It had the heading ‘Paul, George, Ringo, John Lennon, and Jagger’ plus details of what each had been wearing.”
Based on the way the reporter wrote their names, Lennon believed that Jagger was taking over his reputation.
“‘You’ve taken over from me,’ said John to Mick Jagger, pointing out to him how the reporter had named each of them,” Davies wrote. “‘I just used to be called Lennon when I was wicked. Now I’m John Lennon. I haven’t yet reached the next stage of just being John. You’re still Jagger.'”
John Lennon and Mick Jagger spent time together during his ‘lost weekend’ phase
Davies reported that Lennon was jealous of Jagger, but the two were also friendly. Jagger frequently visited Lennon and his girlfriend, May Pang, at their apartment during Lennon’s “lost weekend” in the early 1970s.
“We were always delighted to see him,” Pang wrote in her book Loving John. “Nattily dressed and always looking roguish, he’d turn up with a wicked grin on his face.”
Pang said that their nights with Jagger were always pleasant and relaxed.
“Mick usually brought something to drink, and John and he would spend their evenings together, drinking wine and sitting back and relaxing,” she explained. “Mick loved takeout Chinese food. During those visits I’d call out and order our favorite dishes. Then, after we ate, John and Mick sometimes played their guitars and sang a bit, or we all watched television.”
