I know people who sing technically perfectly and can’t do anything with Mick Jagger. Because what he does is so complex. He has a very fine sense of pitch and melody.
His singing is breathtaking, perfect by his own standards. In some songs he becomes a different person. For example “Angie”: I never heard that voice from him again after that. Not before either. And I love it when he sings falsetto, like on “Emotional Rescue” or “Fool to Cry.”
I like it best when it’s completely unadulterated. When we produced “God Gave Me Everything.” [für Goddess in the Doorway], we made a recording that he thought was a rehearsal. Because he didn’t know the text yet, he read it from a piece of paper. No stops, just one take, boom! And that was exactly the recording.
Nobody works as hard for success as Mick Jagger
Mick is very disciplined and takes his job extremely seriously. Once, when the Stones had a break from touring for a few days, Mick and I went on vacation to the Bahamas. During the day we went to the beach, shopped at the market, cooked, drank wine. In the evening he went into the basement and put on a sound check tape, just the band, no singing, and danced and sang to it to stay in shape. The voice is like a muscle. If you’re on tour and don’t do anything for two weeks, you’ll be hoarse after the next gig. That’s why he went into the basement every evening – and at 78 years old he is stronger than ever.
The great thing about this vacation was sitting in the living room and hearing “Brown Sugar” and “Satisfaction” blasting live through the floor. That was my evening entertainment program. Pretty surreal, huh?
- BIRTHDAY: July 26, 1943
- GOLDEN MOMENTS: “Gimme Shelter”, “Sympathy for the Devil”, “Satisfaction”
- GURU FOR: Jack White, Steven Tyler, Iggy Pop
Lenny currently:
With “TK421”, Lenny Kravitz released his new single and the accompanying music video on Thursday (October 12th), which he classified as NSFW (“not safe for work”), meaning in his opinion it should contain certain offensive scenes. The sound is actually surprising with talk box, saxophone solo and “Star Wars meets Boogie Night” appeal.
“TK421” is the pre-single from Kravitz’s twelfth studio album “Blue Electric Light”, which will be released on March 15, 2024 – his first long player in five years, when “Raise Vibration” was released.
Watch “TK421” here:
We last reported:
Lenny Kravitz wrote a tribute to Verdine White, brother of Fred White, who passed away on January 1, 2023 at the age of 67:
“I send you and the family my love and deepest condolences. I was blessed to have been in his presence and blessed to have been influenced by him. A true king. Rest in Power,” he wrote to Verdine White.
Last words from Verdine White
The musician’s brother, the band’s bassist, had previously announced the sad news on Instagram:
“Dear family friends and fans… Our family is sad today. With the loss of an amazing and talented family member, our beloved brother Frederick Eugene ‘Freddie’ White. He joins our brothers Maurice, Monte and Ronald in heaven and is now drumming with the angels! Child advocate, member of EWF ORIGINAL 9, with gold records at the young age of 16! He was brother number 4 in the family. But more than that, he was a home and the wonderful brother who was always entertaining and delightfully mischievous! And we could always rely on him to make a seemingly bad situation less stressful! He will live forever in our hearts, rest in strength beloved Freddie!! We thank you all for your love, blessings and support during this time. Float high baby brother, we love you to the stars and back!”
In addition to Lenny Kravitz, Nile Rodgers, Questlove and Cindy Blackman Santana, among others, expressed their condolences under the posting.
More about Fred White
Fred White was born in Chicago and began touring with his band The Salty Peppers at the age of 15. They became Earth, Wind & Fire in 1974. The band was very successful in the 1970s and 1980s, after which they toured for decades. They produced the hits “September”, “Shining Star” and “After The Love Is Gone”.