Tina Turner Finally Admits She ‘Always’ Had a Crush on Mick Jagger
Tina Turner and Mick Jagger have been friends for decades, but the singer has finally revealed that she “always” had a crush on The Rolling Stones frontman. Here’s what Turner said.
Tina Turner and her then-husband Ike Turner opened for Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones starting in the mid-1960s
When Ike and Tina Turner released “River Deep, Mountain High,” their fame skyrocketed. Shortly after, they had the opportunity to open for The Rolling Stones on their 1966 tour of the U.K.
Turner told Rolling Stone that Jagger had been around while they recorded the hit in the recording studio with Phil Spector. Turner remembered Jagger, but they’d never talked. “He’s not the type to make you feel you could just come up and talk to him,” Turner explained. Even though the pair didn’t speak, Jagger thought “River Deep, Mountain High” was great.
When the couple joined The Rolling Stones in the U.K., Jagger wasn’t dancing yet. According to Turner, he always said he liked to see girls dance. “So he was excited about our show, and he thought it’d be different for the people in England.”
In a 1997 interview with Larry King, Turner said her experience opening for The Rolling Stones was a lot of fun. Turner also revealed her first encounter with Jagger. The frontman walked into her dressing room unannounced and said, “I love how you girls dance.”
“Often he would come into the dressing room but we were always prepared because we never knew when he was coming in, but that’s how Mick is,” Turner said. The singer said she often saw Jagger watching their performances on the side of the stage, beating a tambourine, but not dancing.
The couple made such a lasting impression on Jagger and The Rolling Stones. Later in 1969, they supported the band again on their U.S. tour. This time, Jagger was doing everything. Suddenly, Turner knew what Jagger had been doing on the side of the stage during their shows in England; he was studying her moves.
“He learned a lot of steps and I tried to teach him like the Popcorn and other steps we were doing, but he can’t do ’em like that. He has to do it his way,” Turner said.
Turner has finally admitted that she ‘always’ had a crush on Jagger
The pair remained friends over the years. Turner opened for The Rolling Stones on her own in 1981. She performed “Honky Tonk Women.” Later, in 1985, Turner and Jagger performed together at Live Aid.
During their Live Aid performance, Jagger decided to rip off Turner’s skirt on stage. In her memoir, the singer wrote about the incident (per the Independent), “Mick and I could never just stand there and sing – that wasn’t us. We had to do something. He looked me over. I was wearing a tight-fitting black leather top and skirt and I could see a naughty idea forming.
“‘Does that skirt come off?’ he asked slyly. ‘What?’ was my startled reply…’I’m going to take your skirt off.’ I asked him why, but it was too late to talk it through, Mick had already made his mind up to do it. It wasn’t as if some random guy pulled off my skirt. It was like a boy I knew did it. A very old boy.”
After decades of friendship, Turner has revealed to the Guardian that she “always” had a crush on Jagger. “I loved when we toured with The Rolling Stones,” she said. The pair’s chemistry on stage is undeniable. So, it’s no surprise that Turner had a crush on Jagger.
The singer is still salty that Jagger didn’t give her credit for showing him his moves
The skirt incident clearly didn’t deter Turner from performing with Jagger ever again. They performed together a few more times over the years. However, their final performance happened at the 1989 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
After decades of sharing the stage, though, Turner is still salty that Jagger has never given her the credit she deserves for showing him his dance moves. “Mick wanted to dance – and I was a dancer – but he never gave me the credit!” she told The Daily Mail (per the Independent).
“He said his mother taught him how to dance. But we worked with him in the dressing room, me and the girls, and we taught him how to Pony.”
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that we’ll see Turner and Jagger sing and boogie together ever again. Turner has retired to Switzerland. However, we thank her for all her collaborations with her long-time crush.
