No matter how influential or groundbreaking a musician was, in the early days of their career, they were influenced by other artists and initially tried to emulate elements they learned from them before developing their own style. This was also true for the Rolling Stones vocalist Mick Jagger, who is certainly one of the most influential frontmen of all time, as well as an incredible singer and songwriter.
His stage moves and performance style evolved over the decades. Jagger was often compared to earlier artists, and his bandmate Keith Richards once revealed his opinion on which two artists Jagger is a mix of.
The 2 artists Keith Richards said Mick Jagger is a mix of
Talking to NPR back in 2015, the guitarist Keith Richards explained that when he co-write a song with Jagger, he always composed them thinking about the way the vocalist sings. He always has Jagger in mind when writing and also believes nobody else could do those songs better than his bandmate. He also said that he believes the singer is a mix of Maria Callas and James Brown.
“Mick – see, I write songs for Mick to sing. That’s what I do. I mean, you don’t get ‘Midnight Ramblers’ out of nowhere. You don’t get ‘Gimme Shelters’ out of nowhere. I’m writing for this – I say, man, I know this guy can handle this and nobody will ever be able to handle it any other way. What I do is write songs for Mick to sing and if he picks up on it. He’s an outstanding performer. Hey, you’re talking about a mixture of James Brown and Maria Callas here, you know?” Keith Richards said.
Maria Callas, one of the artists mentioned by Richards, was born in New York City back in 1923. She was a Soprano and one of the most praised and influential opera singers of 20th century. Her repertoire had music from artists like Rossini, Verdi, Puccini and Wagner. She was even called by Leonard Bernstein the “Bible of Opera”. She died in 1977 at the age of 53, victim of a heart attack.
Mick Jagger said he copied James Brown’s moves
Born in Barnwell, South Carolina back in 1933, James Brown really was a huge inspiration for Mick Jagger when it came to stage presence. Brown not only was an incredible singer but he also was always on fire when he was performing live, doing moves not many other artists could while singing.
In an interview with Time magazine in 2014, Jagger said that he “copied all his moves” in the early days.
“Of course (he influenced me). I copied all his moves, I copied everybody’s moves. I used to do (his) slide across the stage, I couldn’t do the splits, so I didn’t even bother. Everyone did the microphone trick, where you pushed the microphone, then you put your foot on it and it comes back, and then you catch it.”
He continued:
“James probably did it best. Joe Tex did it brilliantly. Prince does it really well. I used to try to do it, but in the end, it hit me in the face too many times and I gave it up. So of course I copied his moves. There was one particular one I used to do a lot, but then I gave up and moved on. You just incorporate everything into your act,” Mick Jagger said.
Brown was the central pioneer of Funk music and one of the major figures of the 20th-century music. He sold an estimated amount of more than 50 million records worldwide. He sadly passed away back in 2006 at the age of 73 after suffering a heart attack.