Mick Jagger Regrets Taking This Piece of Advice From John Lennon

Like a lot of kids, I spent the early years of my life listening to the music my parents liked. While some of that music was just what was on the radio at the time, I was also exposed to healthy doses of Steely Dan, Earth, Wind, & Fire, and The Beatles. You know who they never played, to my recollection? Elvis. Hell, I don’t think I ever even heard them talk about him much, save for when the back of Peter Dobson’s head was shown in Forrest Gump.

The man, myth, and legend was mostly relegated to parodies I would see on TV. I was far more familiar with the idea of Elvis than I was with his songs or dances. To put it bluntly, he was the fat guy in rhinestones and sunglasses who loved Vegas and died on the toilet. It was only in later years that I would go on to learn more about him and understand why he was held in such high regard by others, including members of The Beatles.

The four boys from Liverpool loved American pop culture, which I was very much aware of, thanks to a TV movie about The Monkees that I loved, which revealed that The Beatles were big fans of the eponymous show (and everything in TV biopics is 100 percent true). To that end, John Lennon was a big Elvis fan, and he once told Mick Jagger never to meet the legendary singer.

Jagger recently sat down with Conan O’Brien, and the topic of Elvis came up, specifically how Mick had never met the man despite being a massive fan. As he explains, John Lennon told him, “You should never meet your heroes. I would never meet Elvis, Mick, if I were you.” The Rolling Stones frontman does a pretty funny Lennon impression, and I’m impressed with Conan for letting that slide without acknowledging it (but he’s in the middle of meeting one of his heroes, so it makes sense).

Conan, a Beatles historian in his own right, explained that Lennon had a disappointing meeting with Elvis in 1964, a story Mick Jagger claims to have heard several times. It put him off of meeting Elvis, as he didn’t want his image of the man shattered. But now, he regrets not taking to opportunity to meet such an icon. It’s pretty fascinating to watch someone like Jagger express regret when he’s lived, ya know, the life of Mick Jagger.