'Mick Jagger is a power freak'

2008-02-28 14:03

London - Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is a "power freak" who is also a "bit vain", bandmate Keith Richards said in an interview set to be published on Thursday.

Speaking to Uncut magazine in an interview to promote a Martin Scorsese documentary about the band, Shine A Light, the guitarist also said he would have told his younger self to "lay off" drugs.

"Mick's a maniac. He can't get up in the morning without knowing immediately who he's going to call," the 64-year-old Richards said.

"Meanwhile, I just go 'Thank God I'm awake' and wait for three or four hours before I do anything. He is a power freak and there's nothing we can do about it.

"I don't want to do anything about it. Let him bugger about. It doesn't make any difference to what we do."

'Vanity will not carry a band'

Addressing Jagger's on-stage presence, Richards told the magazine, "Excuse me while I laugh. He's a bit vain, let's put it like that," before adding: "We want a vain bloke up there, don't we? Meanwhile, the band can go to work. Vanity will not carry a band. But a band can carry vanity."

Richards was also asked what message he would want to send to his younger self, to which he responded: "I'd have said 'Lay off the dope.' That's my advice now to all younger members who are into this sort of thing - oh, give it up, it ain't really worth it.

"I know the fascination, but it ain't worth it, pal."

In the interview, he also belittled Led Zeppelin's December one-off reunion gig, telling Uncut: "They had one? Well, well done Jimmy (Page) and Robert (Plant). Fuck off. Stairway To Heaven don't make it for me, baby."

- AFP