Beatles News
Mick Jagger: I stupidly took John Lennon’s advice not to meet Elvis
Stones singer says Beatle put him off speaking to Presley after being disappointed by ‘the King’. It was the great rock and roll encounter that never happened.
The two hip-swivelling singers – one British, one American – could have talked for hours about their musical influences, rabid fans and, of course, colourful love lives.
Yet when Sir Mick Jagger had the chance to meet Elvis Presley, he did the unthinkable and turned it down, after “stupidly” taking advice from another music legend: John Lennon. The Rolling Stones singer has revealed that the Beatle had warned him not to meet his hero after his own disappointing encounter with Presley.
Sir Mick, 82, said the Beatles had been introduced to Presley in Los Angeles, and Lennon had been so underwhelmed he told him more than once he should avoid meeting the King.
Sir Mick said he did not want to shatter his illusion of what Elvis would be like, but admitted he had made the wrong decision.
He said on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast: “No, I never met Elvis. You know why? I’ll tell you why. There was a showbiz journalist, I can’t remember his name, but he was famous at the time, and he took the Beatles in Los Angeles to visit Elvis. And there’s pictures of this.
“So they went up to Elvis’s house and his pool. They don’t remember anything. But I remember John telling me: ‘You know you should never meet your heroes, I would never meet Elvis, Mick, if I were you.’ And so I didn’t.”
Source: telegraph.co.uk/Telegraph Reporters
Although his solo work made an immeasurable impact, there wasn’t a lot of John Lennon’s post-Beatles output when you get right down to it. If you don’t count the two experimental albums with Yoko Ono before the band broke up (and you do count the posthumous Milk And Honey), there are just eight solo albums in his catalog.
And yet there are still some amazing songs that flew somewhat under the radar. Here are four that we love that you might not know that well.
“Look At Me”
More than most artists, John Lennon realized that a song could feature a relatively simple structure and still turn out to be quite affecting. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he had a voice that could pierce through even the humblest backing to create something haunting. That kind of effect certainly comes to the fore on “Look At Me”. Whereas much of the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album in 1970 features Lennon grinding out tough arrangements with Klaus Voorman and Ringo Starr, this track is just John and his finger-picked acoustic guitar. Originally written in India, you could easily imagine “Look At Me” sneaking onto The White Album. But it works just fine in the solo setting as well.
“Crippled Inside”
Lennon was intensely proud of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. But he was also competitive enough to want to score the hits that some of his other Beatles were delivering as solo artists. As such, he made Imagine much more pop-friendly. “Crippled Inside”, in a lyrical sense, easily could have fit with the previous record. The song speaks of putting on a show on the outside while unsuccessfully trying to hide the void within. But instead of primal screaming it, Lennon counterintuitively turns the song into a bit of a hoedown. Nicky Hopkins on tack piano and George Harrison on dobro helped to bring about that effect. It makes the medicine of the lyrics go down much smoother.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
The music world suffered a great tragedy on November 29, 2001, when George Harrison died at just 58 years old. The lead guitarist of the Beatles, Harrison is still one of the most influential musicians in modern music, but to Paul McCartney, he was so much more. As McCartney told Uncut, "He was my little baby brother." Just days before Harrison died, McCartney went to visit his former bandmate one last time. The two weren't as close as they had been some 40 years prior, but the love was still there and, as McCartney explained, "it was lovely, really lovely, and the years just stripped back."
When McCartney and fellow Beatle Ringo Starr visited him in New York, Harrison was dying of cancer. The three men who had shared an experience that no one else could ever truly understand talked of old times, having a few laughs and shedding a few tears. Harrison, having spent the last year traveling to clinics from Minnesota to Switzerland to New York in the hopes that the disease could be stopped, complained about the constant travel, wishing that he could just stay in one place and rest. McCartney called back to their shared childhood in Liverpool, suggesting, 'We should go to Speke Hall.' And he's going, 'Oh, that'd be great...'"
Sadly, the two never got to revisit their old stomping grounds together. When Harrison died, a visibly shaken McCartney spoke to the press who were camped outside his home, asking that the media respect Harrison's son, Dhani, and his wife, Olivia's, privacy. "I'm just privileged to have known him, and I love him like he's my brother," he said.
Source: yahoo.com/Derek Faraci
George Harrison was a lot more than just a pop songwriter. He was a musician on a spiritual quest. Here are three of his most reflective songs, to help you if you’re on a quest of your own. “Within You Without You”
“Within You Without You” can be found on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album. This song was written by Harrison and uses a variety of Indian instruments. In this tune, the Quiet Beatle delivers an honest message about how true change comes from within.
Try to realize it’s all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you’re really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you.
“Living In The Material World”
In 1973, Harrison released his album Living In The Material World. Most of the publishing royalties from this album go to his charity, the Material World Foundation, which supports charities like Shelter, UNICEF, NSPCC, and more. The title track of the album explores the phrase “material world” from a different angle.
“…I wrote a song called ‘Living In The Material World’ and it was from that I decided to call the foundation the Material World Foundation,” he explained of the track. “Most people would think of the material world as representing purely money and greed and take offense. But in my view, it means a physical world. It’s the idea that if it is money and greed, then give the greedy money away in the material world.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Kat Caudill
The music of the 1960s continues to shape the sound of the industry today. During that decade, fans were entertained by iconic groups like The Zombies, The Yardbirds, The Animals, The Monkees, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, The Kinks, and the Beach Boys. But even with each group leaving a lasting mark on music, nothing compared to the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Taking their stardom to heights never seen in history, Mick Jagger recently explained who he considered the most “prolific” songwriters of that time.
Recalling that historic decade of music, Jagger noted how no band, singer, or songwriter could compete with the talents of Paul McCartney and John Lennon. “They were the most prolific songwriters of that time. They wrote all these songs for themselves, which are all huge hits that were coming out all the time.”
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If completely dominating the music industry wasn’t enough, Jagger added how the two wrote songs for more than themselves. “They were writing and giving songs that they made as demos for all these disparate people, like Cilla Black and this one and that one — all had huge hits with songs which the Beatles wrote, including us.”
Source: Chris Piner/americansongwriter.com
Ringo Starr spoke to PEOPLE about collaborating on the 2026 duet “Home to Us” with Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney. “Home to Us” marks the first time both artists have performed full vocals on a song as just a duo. The song is from McCartney’s 20th solo studio album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which came out on May 29
Ringo Starr opened up about what’s so special about his 2026 duet, “Home to Us,” with Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney.
At his Peace and Love 86th birthday event in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 7, Starr discussed working with his fellow Beatle, 84, on their new song from McCartney’s latest album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane.
“Well, it’s the first time we’ve ever done it like a couple — we’re both singing it. I’ve sang a few choruses on his tracks. He’s played on my tracks. He’s come over with the bass,” Starr exclusively told PEOPLE.
He jokingly added, “It’s not like we don’t know each other.” Starr went on to sing McCartney’s praises after collaborating again.
“I loved it because we were in this band together, and it’s just the best band ever. And Paul, his bass playing is incredible, and he’s a songwriter. I mean, I can go on forever. He’s just a wonderful lad,” Starr said.
“Home to Us,” which came out on May 8, is the second single from McCartney’s 20th solo studio album, which was released on May 29.
Previously, Starr played drums on McCartney’s Flaming Pie in 1997, McCartney played bass on Starr’s Give More Love in 2017 and he played all instruments on Starr’s Rewind Forward in 2023, among other projects.
Ringo Starr at his Peace and Love 86th birthday event on July 7, 2026.
Starr also released a country album, Long Long Road, in April. “I’ve always loved country. I did a country album 50 years ago, [Beaucoups of Blues]. That was great because it just came about [by chance]. George [Harrison] was making a record, and I was playing on it after [the Beatles] had broken up,” he recalled to PEOPLE at the time.
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Source: people.com/Brian Anthony Hernandez
While the beloved British band the Beatlesare known for feel-good, jaunty tunes, the group, consisting of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, the lateJohn Lennon, and the late George Harrison, had some darker numbers throughout their decade together.
For instance, the publication Collider released a list of the "10 scariest Beatles songs, ranked." The list, published in December 2025, included Beatles tunes like 1968's "Helter Skelter," "I Am the Walrus" from 1967, and "Run for Your Life," which came out in 1965. According to Collider, the Beatles' song "Revolution 9," off their 1968 album, is the scariest song released by the band. The publication reported that the song is almost upsetting because of its jarring static consisting of manic laughter, unexpected crashes, excited clapping, and sparse, incomprehensible conversations.
Lennon, who died in 1980 at the age of 40, discussed making "Revolution 9" in a 1974 interview. Lennon described the song, which lasts 8 minutes and 22 seconds, as "the weird one" and "like an action painting." He also explained that the song was recorded with the help of tape loops.
"I had a lot of tape, loops which is just a circle of tape, if people don't understand it, that repeats itself over," said Lennon during the 1974 interview. "And I had about 10 of them on different mono machines all spinning at once with pencils and things holding them. I had a basic track, which was the end of the 'Revolution' song where we'd gone on and on and on and on. And I just played it sort of live into another tape and just brought them in on faders, like you do as a DJ and brought them in like that."
Lennon also shared the significance behind the repetition of the "number nine" throughout the song. He explained that the sound originated from "an engineer's voice" who said, "This is number nine" while recording a test tape.
"And I just like the way he said, 'Number nine,' so I just made a loop of him saying 'Number nine,' and brought that in whenever I felt like it," said Lennon.
Source: yahoo.com/Nicole Moore
Rolling Stones icon Keith Richards has spoken about his relationship with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, claiming that he "really misses being in a band".
Chatting to Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Richards said: "You know I've realised that Paul really misses being in a band. And his joy of just being in that context is great. So if there's any more songs to do, I'll let you know, Paul."
The conversation came as part of the promo run for the Rolling Stones' new album Foreign Tongues, which is out July 10 and features a wide range of world-famous contributors including Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, The Cure's Robert Smith and, of course, McCartney himself.
A recent trailer posted on YouTube showed the band's three remaining members — Richards, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood — on top form in the studio, an incredible 64 years after the group first formed.
They're joined by new drummer Steve Jordan, who appears to have slotted in seamlessly following the loss of original member Charlie Watts back in 2021.
"It was Charlie Watts that did suggest to me that if ever I was gonna work with another drummer, it should be Steve Jordan," Richards said. "I'm sure Charlie Watts is beaming down on us, so I feel good about that."
Source: yahoo.com/Fred Garratt-Stanley
John Lennon might have developed his passion for playing music by listening to American rock ‘n’ roll stars. But by the time he was famous enough to be asked to appear on television, he had no problem denouncing those same artists for a laugh. In June 1963, the artist in Lennon’s crossfire was the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley.
Lennon was invited to appear on the BBC television program Juke Box Jury, in which celebrities would rate new singles a “hit” or a “miss.” Although The Beatles were technically one year out from their major debut in the States on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Fab Four were already sparking Beatlemania across their native United Kingdom.
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To the delight of the crowd (and to the surprise of no one who knew Lennon), the Beatle dubbed every record a “miss,” including Elvis Presley’s latest single, “Devil In Disguise.” Lennon remarked that Presley was “like Bing Crosby now.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis
Mick Jagger praised the Beatles' role in the Rolling Stones' history and music history as a whole in an interview that aired on SiriusXM's Classic Vinyl channel on Thursday. He also discussed how Paul McCartney had joined the Stones to record two songs, Hackney Diamonds' "Bite Your Head Off" and "Covered in You," which will appear on the band's new album, Foreign Tongues, out tomorrow.
"They were the most prolific songwriters of that time," Jagger said of the Beatles. "They wrote all these songs for themselves, which are all huge hits that were coming out all the time. Plus they were writing and giving songs that they made as demos for all these disparate people, like Cilla Black and this one and that one — all had huge hits with songs which the Beatles wrote, including us, so we were all really happy to get them and it just made them into this huge writing machine, you know, that they were amazingly prolific."
McCartney and John Lennon gave the Stones "I Wanna Be Your Man," which became the Stones' second single, in 1963. It was a Number 12 hit for the group in the U.K. The Beatles recorded their own version of the song, which Ringo Starr sang, for With the Beatles that same year. Cilla Black recorded the Lennon-McCartney compositions, "Love of the Loved," "It's for You," and "Step Inside Love."
In the SiriusXM interview, Jagger shrugged off any supposed rivalry between the Beatles and the Stones, saying it was in their interest to give them a song like "I Wanna Be Your Man." "When they're giving you the song, they're also making money," he said.
Source: yahoo.com/Kory Grow
