The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger Once Made a Song With Jennifer Lopez And It’s a Mess
Mick Jagger rarely releases music without The Rolling Stones. However, he once put out a song with the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am and Jennifer Lopez. will.i.am explained why he was able to work with two massive stars on that song. The tune performed very differently in the United States and the United Kingdom.
will.i.am made an electro-rap song with The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Jennifer Lopez
will.i.am released an electro-rap song called “T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever).” During a 2011 interview with Rolling Stone, will.i.am said he thought it would be impossible to get the “Angie” singer on the song until he spoke to record executive Jimmy Iovine.
“I went to play material for the label and Jimmy Iovine’s like, ‘Yo, this is dope. Who are you gonna put on it?'” will.i.am said. “I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? It’s finished, it’s me.’ So, he’s like, ‘Oh, you don’t feature no one?’
“You play your music and the first thing someone says, ‘Who’s gonna be on it?'” he added. “So I think of the hardest thing ever. “And it happened, Mick Jagger. I just wanted to throw something out there that I thought could never be possible so they would stop asking me.”
What will.i.am thought of Jennifer Lopez
will.i.am convinced Iovine to come out of retirement as a producer to work on Jagger’s part of the tune. “He produced Mick’s vocals, and this was the proudest moment of my life,” will.i.am said. “Winning a Grammy is cool, but the guy who helped you out — and then you got to see him execute one of his dreams — that’s just the dopest ever.”
Iovine recruited Lopez to perform on the song. will.i.am noted said he had worked with big names as a member of the Black Eyed Peas, but he hadn’t done so for his solo projects. He was honored that Lopez would even consider working with him, praising the “I’m Real” singer as “great.”
Mick Jagger might have made the song a hit in the United Kingdom
While “T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)” had a lot of star power, that didn’t translate into success. The track reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for eight weeks. A collaboration between three artists could have brought many music fans together, but they seemed to ignore the track. The tune didn’t appear on an album by any of the artists involved.
Perhaps because Jagger is a bigger star in his native United Kingdom, the song performed much better there. The Official Charts Company reports “T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)” peaked at No. 3 in the U.K. and stayed on the chart for 15 weeks.
While “T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)” found some success, it probably won’t be remembered as one of the more important songs in Jagger’s discography. It’ll go down in history as a novelty. If fans want to hear a lousy dance song that’s a collaboration between Jagger and another star, they can just listen to Jagger and David Bowie’s campy take on “Dancing in the Street.”
will.i.am knows how to bring artists together but he doesn’t always know how to run up the charts.
