The Drama Between Keith Richards And Mick Jagger, Explained

There's an abundance of love between The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and the band's frontman Mick Jagger. Liking each other? Well, that's a different story. Though their decades-long bromance has brought Stones fans iconic hits like "Wild Horses" and "Satisfaction," the bandmates confess that they've been harboring bad blood between one another for quite some time.

First, they were childhood friends who grew up one street away from each other. Then, they bonded over their shared love of American blues after running into each other at a train station in their hometown. Finally, they were The Rolling Stones. Well, it took a lot of work to get to their status in the industry, but you get the point. After 60 years next to Jagger on stage, Richards has revealed all the fractures in his relationship with Jagger. When Howard Stern asked the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer if he loved his life-long music partner on an October 2023 episode of "The Howard Stern Show," Richards replied: "Yeah, man. I don't like him much, but I love him."

Keith Richards was never more candid about his friendship with bandmate Mick Jagger than he was in his book "Life." His chapters revealed: "Mick and I may not be friends – too much wear and tear for that." He goes on to call Jagger his brother, which he says explains much about their relationship. "Best friends are best friends. But brothers fight," he penned. The guitar wizard blames much of the original hostility between him and Jagger on his 1977 heroin arrest in Canada, which left Jagger fuming over Richards' stint in rehab and loss of control over the band.

It was the '80s when the cracks began to appear in the band's foundation. While recording their 1983 album "Undercover," Jagger and Richards couldn't even be in the same room together. Chris Kimsey, who co-produced the album, told Vanity Fair, "I would get Mick in the studio from, like, midday until seven o'clock, then Keith from, like, nine o'clock till five in the morning. They would not be together." Kimsey said the frontman and guitarist actively avoided each other, specifically asking when the other would be gone from the studio. "After about a week, it was killing me," the producer said. Their rift broke up the band for a brief period, until 1989 when they came back together to record and tour with their album "Steel Wheels." However, the fragments of their feud still smolder within both Richards and Jagger.

After Keith Richard's memoir "Life" was released, Mick Jagger was admittedly hurt by how he was portrayed as a cold and dispassionate band member. "I've lots of different roles within The Rolling Stones, and then I have roles outside of the band that have nothing to do with The Rolling Stones at all," he told the Daily Mail. "So I don't want to be pigeonholed that I'm one thing."

To Stones drummer Charlie Watts, they simply have a sibling rivalry. "They're like brothers, arguing about the rent, and then if you get between it, forget it," he told the outlet. But, to Jagger, having a band relationship is a whole different ballgame than having a brother relationship, and the former is how he sees it with him and Richards. Working with Richards for as long as he has is certainly a recipe for a strong bond, but, "it isn't family," Jagger insists.