The Rolling Stones reflect on aging and Charlie Watts. (Photo: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni)
Ahead of their upcoming 14-date tour – which marks the 60th anniversary of the Rolling Stones’ founding – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood share how they stay frisky in their 70s. Both Jagger and Richards are 78 years old, while Wood celebrates his 75th birthday on June 1st.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Jagger admits the band’s exhaustive touring schedule belies expectations about aging, although he welcomes the challenge.
“Rock ‘n’ roll, or frankly any kind of pop music, shouldn’t be done when you’re in your 70s,” says the British rocker. “It wasn’t designed for that at this age is really a nudge. But that makes it even more challenging. So it’s like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to get this fucking right’, but it has to be as inclusive as possible. ‘Of course you could do a different kind of music – we have a lot of ballads. I could sit in a chair .”
Though he now travels with a cardiologist after undergoing heart valve replacement surgery in 2019, the infamous frontman is determined to keep up his exercise routine. One would expect nothing less from the man who inspired Moves Like Jagger.
Jagger describes his regimen as “six weeks of training before rehearsals begin. And I dance, do gymnastics, every day of the week. I don’t enjoy it very much, but it has to be done.”
For Richards, who quit his 55-year-old cigarette habit two years ago, his concert preparation these days is quieter than his outspoken reputation might suggest.
“I may or may not have a stiff drink, but I don’t usually do that,” he says. “You know, you outgrow everything. I’ve spent my whole life giving things up, so that’s it for now.”
Wood, meanwhile, is mindful of his health after suffering from lung cancer and small cell cancer for the past five years.
“After all my struggles with the capital C over the past few years, I’m trying to keep moving, warming up my joints – stretches and stuff,” shares the Green Juice fan.
The death of drummer Charlie Watts last August following complications from heart surgery remains on everyone’s lips for the group’s surviving members.
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“I don’t really expect him to be there when I turn around during a show anymore,” says Jagger. “But I’m thinking of him. Not only during rehearsals or on stage, but also in other ways. I would have called him and talked about last night’s Arsenal game because he supports Tottenham and I’m Arsenal. I miss him as a player and as a friend. If we come forward in the show and bow at the end, there’s no Charlie. He was always the last one down. I would say, ‘Come on, what do you have to do?’ He fiddled with his sticks because he always had to line them up before getting off the seat.”
While the rockers do their best to stay young and vital, they agree that old age has one benefit: emotional maturity. Although their infighting in the band is legendary, Jagger credits “maturity” with keeping things calm and not chaotic.
“It’s true, and it took a long time,” says the singer. “We are in a very immature business. I have no illusions about that. But that doesn’t mean you have to be immature.”
Wood, who only became an official member of the Rolling Stones in 1976, adds: “We’ve matured with each other. The attitude within the band is no longer disposable. ‘ I’ve had this ‘shut up, you’re the new guy’ feeling for many years, but now every tour has a different demeanor. Mick has been through so many different moods and images in his life and he has come back to be a really warm person. Keith too.”