Johnny Rotten Says Mick Jagger Gets Away With His ‘Rubbish’

Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten joined an interview with Piers Morgan and talked about The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and his vocal performance. The frontman defined Jagger’s singing as rubbish and explained why he became so famous and thriving as a rock star.

The relationship between Rotten and Jagger can be defined as tumultuous, considering their harsh words to each other and praising their personalities simultaneously. Rotten shared his gratitude to the frontman for helping the late bassist Sid Vicious without seeking any attention in one of them. The Rolling Stones’ singer’s role in the musician’s freedom after a severe tragedy in his life was highly critical.

Rotten revealed that Jagger paid the bail and the lawyers to save Vicious from jail after he was arrested when his girlfriend Nancy Spungen was found dead with a single stab on October 12, 1978. However, it seems that Jagger’s generous act didn’t change the singer’s mind about his performance as a vocalist, and he highlighted it in his interview. The Sex Pistols icon shared his ideas about Jagger, saying he’s rubbish.

Following Piers Morgan’s describing Jagger not as a great singer but as a performer or an embodiment of a rock star, Rotten agreed with him. The famous musician stated that he could get away with his rubbish and became popular probably with the help of his connections in the music industry even though he had no talent in singing a song. Rotten added that people often targeted him by highlighting his lack of talent, but he always showed Jagger as an example.

In Rotten’s words, he said:

“The only one I’d knock is Mick Jagger because he’s rubbish.

The host added:

“I had this debate about Mick Jagger the other day because I don’t think he’s ever been a very good singer but a great rock star, performer, and dancer. I don’t think that he’s a great singer, is he?”

Rotten responded:

He must have connections to get away with that for so long. I’ve been criticized as not being a great singer, but my classic example, by way of explanation, is ‘Well, neither is Jagger.’ It’s something like that I don’t know.”

You can check out the interview below.