Mick Jagger Truly Hated Him More Than Anyone – HT
And then to bump into the man and you know with his I said what you got under the ground man you and it’s a muddy waters the best of muddy waters and rocking at the hops by Chuck Bry as the voice of the Rolling Stones. MC Jagger became the blueprint for every front man who came after him. Style, attitude, everything.
People imagine a superstar like him would never waste energy on grudges. Shockingly he did. There was one singer who pushed Jagger past tolerance into a level of hatred fans never expected from a rock icon. Was this personal revenge or a battle for the spotlight itself? Stay with us and you’ll understand why Jagger despised him more than anyone.
Number one, Steven Tyler, the imitator who pushed Jagger over the edge. If we’re going to start with the singer MC Jagger hated the most, then it has to be Steven Tyler because nothing and no one irritated Jagger quite like a man who accidentally became his shadow. And the wild part, most people think their similarities were funny or charming.
They have no idea how much it bothered Mick behind closed doors. Back in the mid70s when Aerosmith started blowing up, every journalist kept asking Jagger the same annoying question. Does Steven Tyler remind you of you? And that question alone lit a fuse. People close to the Stones say Mick would roll his eyes and mutter, “Remind me? He’s practically auditioning to be me.
” But the feud didn’t fully ignite until one night in 1976 at a New York industry party. Tyler walked in loud, charismatic, scarf- covered microphone stand in hand. The whole Jaggeresque package. He spotted Mick, rushed over, and tried to greet him like they were brothers. Mick didn’t smile, didn’t shake his hand, didn’t pretend.
Instead, he leaned in and said quietly, “You’re not inspired by me, Steven. You’re copying me.” Tyler froze. People nearby swear the entire room went silent. When Aerosmith performed on national TV in 1977, Jagger reportedly sat in front of the screen with his arms crossed, irritated before the first chorus even hit.
After Tyler did his signature scream and hip swagger, Mick stood up and snapped, “That’s me. if I’d been put through a photocopier. Brutal. And the resentment only grew. Aerosmith’s big comeback in the 80s made it even worse. When MTV asked Mick about Walk This Way, he brushed it off with a smirk and said, “Old tricks in new packaging. That’s all.
” Tyler kept trying to be friendly over the years, but Mick stayed cold, polite in public, dismissive everywhere else. There are no reconciliation, no hug it out moment, nothing. To Mick, Steven Tyler wasn’t competition. He was a reminder that someone out there was making a career by borrowing the very skin Mick had been wearing since the 60s. Number two, John Bonjovi.
The polished rockstar Jagger refused to respect. The second spot on Mick Jagger’s personal blacklist belongs to John Bon Joy. And this one isn’t subtle at all. People who worked with Mick in the late 80s say he didn’t even try to hide his reaction whenever Bon Jo’s name came up. The eye roll, the smirk, the irritated shake of the head.
It was automatic, like a reflex. Everything about John rubbed Mick the wrong way. The blow-dried hair, the polished chorus hooks, the photogenic smile glued on for every camera flash. And the worst part, the world couldn’t get enough of him. Bonjovi was everywhere. Stadiums screaming, radios looping, living on a prayer, magazines calling him the new face of American rock.
Jagger saw it and muttered, “American rock? That’s pop with guitars.” The first real collision happened backstage at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. John walked over confidently, expecting a warm handshake from a legend. Instead, Mick glanced at him the way someone looks at a mannequin, mildly impressed by the hair, annoyed by everything else.
Jon said, “Great to finally meet you.” Mick stepped aside without answering. Only after Jon walked away did Mick turn to Ronnie Wood and say loudly, “Didn’t realize Rockstars came prepackaged now?” A brutal line and everyone heard it. A month later, during the Stone’s early Steel Wheels meetings, BonJovy’s record-breaking tour numbers landed on the table.
Someone joked they should pull a Bon Joy move to appeal to younger fans. Mick slammed the folder shut and snapped. I’d rather quit than sound like that. Since then, any hope of friendship was dead. Jagger’s interview with Q Magazine sealed it. He didn’t disguise the jab. That’s greeting card rock. Sweet messages, simple riffs. Years passed.
The tension never softened. When both attended Clive Davis’s pregrammy party in 2013, people noticed they stayed on opposite sides of the ballroom. Not a word exchanged, not even a nod. To Mick, John Bonjovi wasn’t a threat. He was the polished, corporate friendly version of rock and roll that Jagger wished never existed.
Number three, Robert Plant. The rival frontman Jagger never forgave. What exactly pushed MC Jagger and Robert Plant into one of Rock’s most uncomfortable egofueled feuds? The short answer, Mick hated the idea that another frontman might outshine him. And Robert Plant wasn’t just a rival. He was a threat.
Plant challenged him on something far more personal. Status. the golden throne of greatest frontman alive. During the early 70s, Plant was rising too fast for mix comfort. People close to both bands recall a legendary night at Triton Studios in 1971. Plant had delivered a soaring vocal take in the next room. Someone joked that Mick should try singing like that once in a while. Mick’s face dropped.
Minutes later, he muttered loudly enough for several people to hear. That prehistoric whailing, not my style. Plant laughed, assuming Mick was joking. He wasn’t. The smirk was real, the irritation deeper than anyone realized. Through the decade, journalists constantly compared the two. Every magazine headline threw fuel on the fire. Plant dethroning Jagger.
Is Zeppelin the new blueprint for rock? Mick lived for competition, but Plants Rise didn’t feel like competition. It felt like someone rewriting the hierarchy Mick believed he built. Their coldest moment came in 1973 after Zeppelin shattered attendance records. A reporter asked Mick what he thought about Plant drawing bigger crowds.
Mick didn’t hesitate. Guess volume sells these days. Loud doesn’t mean good. The jab hit hard. Plant brushed it off publicly, but insiders say he privately called Mick terrified of change. Years rolled on. The tension mellowed, but never healed. They occasionally greeted one another at award shows. Quick nods, no conversation, a mutual respect on paper, a silent distance in real life.
Number four, Joe Strummer. The punk rebel who triggered Jagger’s fury. Joe Strummer earned MC Jagger’s anger faster than anyone because he didn’t just criticize Mick, he challenged his entire identity. And Jagger wasn’t used to being attacked by someone who hadn’t even been famous a decade. The moment the clash rose in the late 70s, Strummer came out swinging, calling out anyone he believed had sold out.
But he saved his sharpest criticisms for MC Jagger. In an interview, Joe famously sneered, “The Stones are millionaire tax exiles pretending to be rebels.” That line reached Mick within hours. One of the Stone’s crew members said Mick read the quote, folded the newspaper slowly, and whispered, “Who does this boy think he is?” The damage was already done.
Things escalated at the Rock Against Racism concert in 1978. Strummer spotted Mick backstage and approached him, not to apologize, but to introduce himself. Mick didn’t hide the contempt. He looked Joe up and down as if inspecting a nuisance and walked past him after saying, “Come talk when you’ve had a hit in America.” Witnesses say Strummer clenched his jaw so hard he could barely speak the rest of the evening.
Joe retaliated the only way he knew how, through interviews. Throughout 1977 to 1979, he repeatedly mocked the Stones, calling them old men playing at revolution and rock aristocracy. Mick found every comment, every jab, every insult. It was the first time someone younger had openly questioned the Stone’s credibility, and Mick’s pride couldn’t take it.
The tension grew so thick that when Rolling Stone magazine asked Mick about punk bands, he fired back with one of the coldest lines of his career. Three chords and a slogan, don’t make you a revolutionary. Even years later, when Strummer died in 2002, Mick offered a tribute that felt more like a final jab.
He believed in what he was doing, even if it wasn’t particularly sophisticated. No reconciliation, no softening, just two men who never respected each other. Number five, Chad Kroger, the modern voice. Jagger said was killing rock. Chad Kroger walked straight into MC Jagger’s bad books the moment Nickelback became unavoidable.
No slow buildup, no misunderstanding. Mick disliked him from the very first time the band’s name appeared next to the Stones on a festival lineup. Older rivals irritated Mick, but Chad, he triggered something deeper. Disappointment, frustration, even a sense of betrayal toward what rock music was becoming. The turning point happened backstage at a German festival in 2006.
A journalist cheerfully said, “It must be fun playing the same event as Nickelback today.” Mick didn’t blink, didn’t smile. He just answered, “Fun? I don’t consider what they do to be in the same universe as us.” Crew members nearby froze. That was Mick’s polite version. His real thoughts were harsher.
The real explosion came in 2008 when Chad publicly said the Rolling Stones were a major influence. It sounded innocent, but when Mick read it, something snapped. Bernard Fowler remembers Mick slamming the magazine shut and saying, “Influence of what?” Selling cliches. Nobody dared respond. To Mick, Chad Kroger symbolized everything rock should never become.
overproduced, predictable, engineered for the widest audience possible. He believed Nickelback stripped rock of its danger, its edge, its rebellious heart, and replaced it with formulas. During a BBC interview in 2013, Mick didn’t even try to hide his disgust when asked about modern rock bands. When groups like that become the face of rock, it’s no wonder kids abandon the genre.
It was a punch delivered without naming Chad, but the world understood exactly who he meant. Then came the 2017 Rolling Stone interview where Mick finally dropped all filters. They’re not bland. They’re harmful. Harmful. Not bad. Not boring. Harmful to the entire spirit of rock and roll. Chad never fired back. Not once.
Insiders say he avoids speaking Jagger’s name altogether. terrified of rekindling heat he never intended to start. Mick, meanwhile, hasn’t softened a bit. This is one feud guaranteed to stay cold forever, exactly how Mick wants it. So, after everything you’ve heard tonight, do you think Mick Jagger was justified in hating him more than anyone? Or was the feud blown out of proportion? Tell me your take.
I’m really curious what side you’re on. And before you go, hit like, subscribe, and tap the notification bell. So you never miss another story that rock legends don’t want you to