Mick Jagger, strutting at 80, teases new music and more touring

HOUSTON: Mick Jagger, on touring at 80 years old, says laughingly, “It’s very much like being on tour aged 78. It’s not any different… It takes a while to get into the thing of it, you know, at the beginning. So the first few shows was like a little bit tricky. So it took a couple of shows to get into the groove, but now we’re into it, I think, so I’m feeling good about it.”

He sang “What a drag it is getting old,” back in the 1960s. But Jagger, who turns 81 on July 26, is still having a blast and has no plans to stop rocking anytime soon.

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Now swinging through the US on the “Hackney Diamonds” tour, the group will look at opportunities to play in other countries next year, Jagger said in an interview.

“We’ll consider those offers, where we’re going to go and where is going to be fun,” he said. “It could be Europe, it could be South America, could be anywhere.”

Jagger also said the Stones are likely to release more new music soon.

The current tour is named for the critically praised album the Stones debuted last October, the first new material from the British rockers in 18 years.

At each stop, Jagger commands the stage for two hours with bandmates Keith Richards, 80, and Ronnie Wood, 77. Fans say Jagger still delivers a vigorous performance full of gyrating, stomping, sprinting and his world-famous swagger.

In a review titled “The Rolling Stones Really Might Never Stop,” the New York Times said Jagger, at a show at a football stadium in New Jersey, seemed to get more energetic as the night went on.

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Where does he find such energy? “I just enjoy it,” Jagger said. “Really, that’s the answer. I just love doing it… You get this back and forth with the audience. You can see they’re having a good time, you’re having a good time… and it gives you a lot more energy.”

Jagger said he stays fit by doing two dance rehearsals and a few gym workouts each week. His father was a physical education teacher and Jagger has often credited his good health to genetics.

On the tour, the Stones play about four songs from “Hackney Diamonds” in between rock classics such as “Start Me Up,” “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Sympathy for the Devil.”

Fans appear to have embraced the new music, Jagger said. He sees people in the crowd singing along to the words.

Coming up, Jagger said he hopes to be joined on stage by some of the music legends who made guest appearances on “Hackney Diamonds” – Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder and Elton John – but said he does not yet have commitments. “It’s hard pinning them down,” he said.

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The Stones recorded many songs that did not make it onto “Hackney Diamonds,” which may lead to another album, Jagger said. “We’ve got a lot more, so I think we’d be set up to make another album quite soon,” he said.

Outside of music, Jagger is producing a film about the love story between jazz musician Miles Davis and French actress and singer Juliette Greco, as well as a movie adaptation of “The Real Thing,” a play by British playwright Tom Stoppard.