Brenda, Her Majesty: How Keith Richards insulted Mick Jagger in front of his nose
From the outside looking in, the worlds traversed by members of your favourite band seem hallowed. To be able to spend time in a studio or on stage as part of a group that likely includes some of your best friends while you hotfoot across the globe, followed by screaming fans, fame, and fortune, appears to be a dream come true. However, for Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones, things are a little different.
Of course, Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and the range of guitarists they had, like Brian Jones, Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood, can all attest to having some of the wildest times known to man on tour. They can also do so safely in the knowledge that their bank accounts will likely never be empty again. However, to assume that just because the men are in a band together they have always shared the best of time is to misunderstand the relationships at the centre of The Rolling Stones.
The group has been a multinational conglomerate for some time and, because of that, has had to find ways to function in order to support whatever record or tour they are currently trying to market. Far away from the starry-eyed notions of rolling through the country like a gang, delivering rock and roll for the masses, and moving on out with a shed load of cash in the back seat, the Stones are a business and a big business at that.
The swell of staff attached to the group has grown massively since their conception. However, there can be no doubt that the most important two men in the entire ensemble are Jagger and Richards, the duo lovingly known as the ‘Glimmer Twins’. Not only are they the group’s chief songwriters, but they are the draw that brings millions of fans to Rolling Stones shows every year. But the duo haven’t always got on. In fact, they have spent the majority of their careers feuding in one way or another.
The 1960s were a hedonistic time for every band, and The Rolling Stones were no different. While drugs flew around and the two men even swapped lovers from time to time, their disdain for one another was only a mild irritant. As the ’70s dawned, things worsened, but largely fuelled by Richards’ increasing dependence on narcotics to function. The 1980s saw the group almost implode through their embittered relationships.
During a BBC documentary about the group, Jagger opened up about their personal difficulties: “The thing about bands is that, it’s a collection of individuals as a band, and they say ‘You’re just like brothers, you’re just like a family.’ It’s not like a family at all.”
The singer continued: “I actually have a brother, I know what it’s like to have a brother and it’s not like being with Keith at all. It’s friendship. It’s friendship and working together.”
Jagger continued to explain that the necessity of keeping the group together and the good times for their business, the band needed to operate differently: “As in friendships and love affairs, people have roles to play, but those roles change, and so it’s in a state of flux so it’s never the same. If you’re talking to me about a band like the Rolling Stones that have been around for such a long time, then all of these things apply.”
Of course, their difference has almost brought the band down on many occasions. However, one might imagine that the pinnacle of their issues, and perhaps why they began to separate themselves from each other up until they met in the studio or on stage, was when Richards devised a plan to insult Jagger to his face without him knowing. In his 2011 memoir Life, Richards revealed how he came up with a way to moan about Jagger without him ever twigging it was about him: “He became Brenda or Her Majesty. We’d be talking about ‘that b**ch Brenda’ with him in the room, and he wouldn’t know.”
This revelation, and an apparent jibe at his manhood, would force Richards to apologise to his singer. Their feuds had reached a point where now he and Jagger were forced to ensure they remained friends, as he revealed: “Before I know it, Mick and I are sort of making up fights just to keep everybody happy. It gets ridiculous! No, we’re tight.”
It’s hard to imagine describing the warring factions of Jagger and Richards as anything but fraternal. While they may not share a continuously friendly time with one another, their shared experiences provide unbreakable bonds that feel perhaps even stronger than strands of DNA. However, no matter how tight they now are, there were a few moments when Richards nearly pushed Brenda over the edge.
