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TL;DR:

  • The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger compared Keith Richards to Eric Clapton.
  • Jagger was asked if he was overshadowed by Richards as a musician.
  • Jagger said fans had an incorrect understanding of their songwriting partnership.
The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in front of a building
The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards | Bettmann / Contributor

Together, The Rolling Stones‘ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships ever. Jagger was once asked about how he got along with Richards. Subsequently, he was asked if Richards received more recognition as a musician than he did.

The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger discussed Keith Richards and Eric Clapton as guitarists

During a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, Jagger was asked if he worked better with Richards than other guitarists. “Well, yeah, up to a certain point,” he replied. “I do enjoy working with other kinds of guitar players, because Keith is a very definite kind of guitar player. He’s obviously very rhythmic and so on, and that works very well with Charlie and myself.

“Though I do like performing or working with guitar players that also work around lead lines a lot — like Eric [Clapton] or Mick Taylor or Joe Satriani,” Jagger continued. “Whether it’s better or not, it’s completely different working with them.”

Some fans didn’t understand the songwriting partnership at the center of The Rolling Stones

In addition, Jagger was asked if Richards was more appreciated as a musician than he was. “I don’t think people really know or care that much about what really goes on,” he said. “I don’t think people care about the mechanics of songwriting, particularly.”

Jagger felt fans had an inaccurate picture of the Jagger-Richards songwriting partnership. “So they think, ‘Oh, well, Mick must write all the lyrics, and Keith writes all the tunes,’ which might have been true 30 years ago, but it really isn’t true now,” he opined. “But that doesn’t worry me very much. Keith might be underappreciated as a lyric writer. I don’t think it worries him.”

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The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger Once Revealed His Favorite David Bowie Song

How Mick Jagger’s and Keith Richards’ solo music performed on the pop charts in the United States

Jagger and Richards both had solo careers. One of Jagger’s singles that isn’t credited to The Rolling Stones — his cover of Martha and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street” with David Bowie — became a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune reached No. 7 and spent a total of 14 weeks on the chart. Meanwhile, none of his solo albums reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

Richards’ solo career was even less successful. None of his singles charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and none of his albums reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

Regardless of who is more reputable, Jagger and Richards have made their most popular work together.

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