Maynard James Keenan on why Mick Jagger is “impressive”
At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much connecting Tool and Puscifer vocalist Maynard James Keenan with The Rolling Stones’ iconic frontman Mick Jagger. After all, they hail from different generations, have vastly different sounds, and appeal to distinctly separate fanbases. Yet, despite these differences, both are undeniably frontmen of the highest calibre.
While The Rolling Stones may now be octogenarians, without them—and other groups of their era, such as The Beatles and The Who—much of what followed, including Tool and Keenan’s various projects, wouldn’t have had the foundation to thrive. The Rolling Stones were pivotal in pushing rock ‘n’ roll into new territories like psychedelia, prioritising album craftsmanship over standalone singles, and embracing transgressive attitudes that challenged societal norms. While they weren’t alone in these innovations, alongside The Beatles and Bob Dylan, they played a crucial role in shaping the cultural explosion of the 1960s.
There’s an obvious connection between Tool and psychedelic rock, but more significantly, the band’s famously tight live performances and Keenan’s commanding stage presence also draw parallels to The Rolling Stones. While Mick Jagger and his band’s Liverpudlian contemporaries, The Beatles, are often heralded as the most essential acts of all time, one area where The Stones undeniably outclassed them was in the live arena.
Famously, the Fab Four retired from live performances after their show at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park in August 1966 due to technology not keeping up with their innovations and the fact they wanted to concentrate on recording. That was their problem, though, and The Rolling Stones continued to bolster their status by playing live and performing an array of iconic shows throughout the rest of the decade and in the years following The Beatles calling it a day in 1970.
One key part of The Rolling Stones’ live package is Jagger. While he is key to everything they’ve achieved and is one-half of their in-house songwriting partnership with guitarist Keith Richards, his power as a frontman has continued to energise the band over the years. Love or loathe them, no one can doubt his energy and ability to hold the attention of a crowd of tens of thousands of fans. There’s stage presence, then whatever Jagger naturally has.
Keenan also has this seemingly God-given ability to hold a crowd. His onstage substance might be more mysterious than Jagger’s, with him known to don makeup and eclectic haircuts, and his singing much more accomplished and melismatic than him, but like every great frontman, he’s fully aware of what his English progenitor is so adept at. He even takes stock of it.
Speaking to The Aquarian in 2016, Keenan explained that the most essential element for him with live shows is “the ability to believe in yourself”. Expanding on how this confidence in himself manifests, he used Jagger as an example and outlined what makes him such an “impressive” frontman.
Keenan said: “Yeah. No offence to Mick Jagger, but he can barely carry a tune. His confidence is what is really incredible. He goes out there and you believe him. He is entertaining you. It’s impressive every time. The kind of shows that really inspire me are those where the artists understand that side of confidence and their music comes from a real place.”
It can be easy in the contemporary era to dismiss Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones as caricatures and even husks of their former selves. Yet, despite all of the drug abuse, in-fighting, and their colourful characters, they’ve had more of an impact on music than many bands could even dream of doing.
