Are Gary Oldman and Mick Jagger friends?
In recent years, Gary Oldman has settled into a flatulent, sweaty, greasy-haired groove as slobby spy Jackson Lamb in the excellent AppleTV+ show Slow Horses. There have been four seasons of the show so far, with a fifth and sixth already greenlit, and in 2024, it finally received awards consideration from the Primetime Emmys and Golden Globes. One of the fans’ favourite things about the show is its louche theme song ‘Strange Game’, performed by The Rolling Stones icon Mick Jagger.
It was a huge get for the show because while Jagger has licensed plenty of Stones songs for film and TV, he’d never previously performed an original one. Perhaps this is why people began to wonder if Oldman and Jagger were friends, and the legendary star agreed to lend his unmistakable voice to the show as a favour to his pal. But, is it true – are Gary Oldman and Mick Jagger friends?
As one of Britain’s finest actors for the past four decades, Oldman has worked on all kinds of movies, from the biggest blockbusters to kitchen sink dramas. He has also always been associated with music in a myriad of ways. For example, even though he had never played in a band, Oldman revealed that he was a pretty good pianist and had always loved music.
In fact, he told Charlie Rose in 1995 that he sometimes thinks he’d rather have been a musician than an actor. In addition, Oldman has played several famous musicians in films and lent his real vocals to the productions.
What movies did Gary Oldman sing in?
Oldman, of course, played bassist Sid Vicious of the legendary punk band Sex Pistols in 1986’s Sid and Nancy. He sang on several tracks on the film’s soundtrack album, performing along with the band’s original bassist, Glen Matlock. Two years later, Oldman tinkled the ivories and sang in Nicolas Roeg’s Track 29 before playing Ludwig van Beethoven in 1994’s Immortal Beloved.
Heartwarmingly, Oldman’s love of music and proficiency with different instruments also came in handy during his downtime on movie sets. For instance, Daniel Radcliffe once revealed Oldman taught him how to play the iconic Beatles ‘Come Together’ bass line while they killed time on the Harry Potter films.
So, are Gary Oldman and Mick Jagger friends?
In light of Oldman’s clear affinity for music and his status in the entertainment business over the years, it stands to reason that he and Jagger may have crossed paths. However, even though Jagger made the unusual decision to record ‘Strange Game’ for Slow Horses, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that Oldman had anything to do with that. In fact, there’s nothing to suggest that he and Jagger are friends.
In truth, it was series creator James Hawes and composer Daniel Pemberton who were responsible for Jagger’s involvement in the show – as well as the legendary singer’s fandom of Mick Herron’s source novels.
Jagger told Rolling Stone, “Out of the blue, I got an email from a guy I didn’t know, Daniel Pemberton…He said, ‘Would you be interested in doing this TV theme?’ I’m always up for doing something different.” He added to Empire, “I had read some of the books. So, when Daniel emailed me, I didn’t have to do homework. I knew what it was about. I knew the milieu and the main character’s irascible nature.”
Pemberton simply played a simple guitar riff over Zoom to Jagger, who began to vibe with it and soon came up with the chorus featuring the now-beloved “Strange, strange game” refrain. They then crafted the verses from the perspective of Lamb, Oldman’s wily veteran spy, and Pemberton loved what they came up with in the end. He said, “It’s quite irreverent, but the Gary Oldman character is irreverent. It’s also slightly eerie, so it combines those two things. You don’t want to make it too serious.”
