Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger has revealed the real story behind his long-lost rock ‘n’ roll memoirs.
The singer previously refused to allow his autobiography to be published, at one point claiming he couldn’t remember writing it in the 1980s.
But speaking to BBC 6 Music’s Matt Everitt, he explained: “I really didn’t enjoy it… reliving my life, to the detriment of living in the now.”
Sir Mick said he gave up as reminiscing “takes a lot out of you”.
“It takes a lot of reliving emotions, reliving friendships, reliving ups and downs,” he added.
Describing the process as “dull and upsetting”, Jagger said he gave the money back to the publisher.
In a 2017 article for The Spectator, publisher John Blake, who claimed to have a copy of the manuscript, wrote that the “little masterpiece” spanned 75,000 words, even in its incomplete form.
And despite promising to “do it another day”, Jagger says that he has not been tempted back to writing, even during the pandemic.
Instead, he’s coped with lockdown by staying “pretty creative” and, perhaps unsurprisingly, focusing on music.
“I’ve written a lot of songs and finished records,” he told Everitt.
“Obviously, it’s not as good as being together in the same room with a group of musicians. I mean, there’s really no substitute for that. But one of the things that kept me going through the lockdown [has been] being able to play music and set up little studios, wherever.
“I was very lucky that I had a couple of places and… a nice garden,” said the veteran ’60s rocker.
