Mick Jagger says he regrets following John Lennon's advice not to meet Elvis Presley
Los Angeles, July 16
The English rock band, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has revealed that he regrets taking late Beatles legend John Lennon's advice not to meet Elvis Presley, saying he wishes he had met the rock and roll icon, according to E! News.
Speaking on the Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast, Jagger recalled that he never met Presley because Lennon had warned him against meeting his heroes after his own experience with the singer.
"I never met Elvis. You know why? I'll tell you why," Jagger said, recalling how a British tabloid journalist had once arranged for The Beatles to meet Presley in Los Angeles, according to E! News
Host Conan O'Brien referred to the well-known story, saying, "They were all high. The Beatles were high and none of them have their story straight."
Jagger, however, said Lennon was certain about one lesson from that meeting.
"I remember John telling me, 'Yeah, you know, you should never meet your heroes. I would never meet Elvis, Mick, if I were you,'" he recalled.
The 82-year-old singer admitted he followed the advice, a decision he now regrets.
"And so I didn't. I took John's advice, which was really stupid of me, really. I mean, I would love to have met Elvis! Why did I take John's advice? At the time, it seemed to ring," Jagger said, as per the outlet.
O'Brien added that Lennon had been disappointed after meeting Presley during The Beatles' first US tour.
"Famously, in the '64 tour, the minute they got to America, John kept saying, 'Where's Elvis, where's Elvis.' That's the only person he wanted to meet. Then they met Elvis in Bel-Air at his house. John walked out and said, 'Where's Elvis?' because that was not the guy he wanted to meet," O'Brien said, adding, "He disappointed him."
Jagger said Lennon shared the story with him more than once.
"He told me this story more than once," Jagger said.
Reflecting on why he ultimately decided against meeting Presley before the singer's death in 1977, Jagger said, "It sort of put me off. I wanted to keep my Elvis to myself. My version of Elvis. I didn't want my version of Elvis shattered like John's was."
He added, "Maybe my Elvis version would've been different."
— ANI
Reader Comments
I find this so relatable! 😅 It's like when my friends warned me against visiting a famous temple in Varanasi because "it's too touristy" - I listened and now I regret it. Jagger is 82 and still thinking about this! Shows how some decisions haunt you forever. At least he's honest about it.
Classic "never meet your heroes" advice. But Mick's regrets show that sometimes the fantasy is better than reality anyway. Elvis and The Beatles were all massive cultural icons - imagine what that meeting would have been like if it had worked out. Still, 50+ years later, I doubt Mick lies awake crying over this.
This is like the Indian version of "don't meet your film heroes" - we all know someone who met Amitabh Bachchan and came back disappointed because he wasn't as friendly as in his movies 😂 But honestly, regret is a part of life. Jagger's biggest achievement is still rock music, not meeting or not meeting Elvis.
I love how candid Jagger is about this. But let's be real - he made the choice that seemed right at the time. John Lennon gave him advice from personal experience, and Mick respected that. We all make decisions based on what we know then. No point regretting it decades later when you can't change it!
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