The Artist That Taught Mick Jagger How to be a Frontman

Mick Jagger is a singular frontman. It’s hard to imagine he took notes from anyone else. Who else could boast such sporadic and energetic movements? Well, according to the Stones singer, he was heavily influenced by one artist in particular: Tina Turner. Read more on the connection between Jagger and Turner, below.

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The Artist That Taught Mick Jagger How to be a Frontman

Y’know, every now and then

I think you might like to hear something from us

Nice and easy

Left a good job down in the city

But there’s just one thing

Tina Turner was an endlessly influential artist. Many female artists credit her as having paved the way for their own careers. As it turns out, Jagger also commended Turner for her ability to “really go out and grab” an audience.

“She’s one of the first women performers I worked with who has the same aggressive thing that I’ve got,” Jagger once said. “A lot of women performers are quite static — or certainly were in the ’60s. They did their best, but they weren’t like Tina. She was like a female version of Little Richard and would respond to the audience — really go out and grab them.”

You see, we never, ever do nothing

Working for the man every night and day

Nice and easy

Well, I never lost one minute of sleeping

Turner herself marked the similarities between Jagger’s bold stage presence and her own skills. She once recalled a moment in which Jagger joined her backstage to dish out some compliments.

“When I finally saw Mick Jagger for the first time, he was standing in the wings,” Turner once said. “Later, he showed up at the dressing room and said, ‘I like how you girls dance.’ He was a little bit awkward back then. We pulled him into our group and taught him to do The Pony. To this day, Mick likes to say, ‘My mother taught me how to dance,’ but I know better.”

Check out the pair performing together below. Do you notice any similarities?

We always do it nice and rough

Worrying ’bout the way that things might’ve been

So we’re going to take the beginning of this song

And do it easy

Big wheel, keep on turning

But then we’re going to do the finish rough

Proud Mary, keep on burning

This is the way we do “Proud Mary”

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Alan Messer/Shutterstock