GIMME SVELTER
One of rock music’s legendary frontmen is sharing his secrets to living a long, healthy life.
Mick Jagger, who impressively still tours more than six decades after The Rolling Stones’ 1962 formation in London, opened up about how he stays healthy and energetic in an interview with GQ magazine published Thursday.
While the 82-year-old admits an aversion to conventional modern wellness trends, he attributes his health to a simple lifestyle change popular among many in the longevity space—one likely to have been highly unpopular in the swinging ‘60s.
To prepare for performances, in which he runs and leaps around the stage nonstop, Jagger described his training routine as “a bit like tennis.”
“You move very quickly, and then you stop. And then you walk. High intensity,” he told GQ.
When the interviewer asked about modern wellness trends, Jagger seemed decidedly uninterested.
“I can’t stand ice baths. It’s awful. I don’t think it’s a fashion that’s gonna last. You worry sometimes about the fad-iness of it all,” he said.
The “Paint It Black” composer isn’t a fan of saunas either, noting that he doesn’t “like being hot for too long.”
Instead, the father of eight attributed his longevity to quitting bad habits.
“Unfortunately, you can’t really, after a certain age, do loads of drink and drugs,” Jagger, who welcomed his youngest child in 2016 with his fiancée, retired ballerina dancer Melanie Hamrick, 38.
He continued, “Unfortunately. ‘Cause it’s a lot of fun. However, if you want to have fitness and longevity, you can’t do loads of drugs and drink all the time.”
He shares this simple yet effective approach to staying physically and emotionally healthy with many fellow A-listers, including Eric Clapton, 81; Elton John, 79; Bradley Cooper, 51; and Natalie Portman, 45. These famous teetotalers may offer different reasons for abstaining, but all have cited the choice as essential to their well-being.
Even Jagger’s longtime writing partner and bandmate, Keith Richards, 82, has previously spoken about making similar changes in his life, including quitting smoking cigarettes in 2020 and drinking alcohol only “in moderation.”
Jagger told GQ that he toned down those habits around age 40, revealing that he suffers “terrible hangovers” that have only gotten worse with age: “It doesn’t get any better.”
“I mean, you can still do it! But you can’t do it crazy all the time like you used to be able to. Because something will catch you out,” he said. “It might catch you out anyway.”
Jagger—whose band releases its 33rd studio album, Foreign Tongues, on July 10, two weeks before he turns 83—stated that there are no guarantees even with the healthiest lifestyle.
“You’re just doing the best you can. And you might get some terrible illness, and you’ve been clean, and you’ve done everything, you’ve been in the gym, and you might just get some terrible illness,” he said, adding, “But at least you’re doing your best.”
