Sir Mick Jagger has to “learn languages like a parrot” for international tours.
The 78-year-old rock legend – who is the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the Rolling Stones – revealed that he learns various European languages for when he hits the road with his fellow rockers.
He said: “Usually at the [international] concerts I do the languages. But I have to learn them like a parrot!”
The ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ hitmaker – who is hitting the road once again with current bandmates Keith Richards
and Ronnie Wood in celebration of their 60th anniversary – went on to explain that while he struggles with German, they are to start their tour in Spain and has found that “much easier” and is good with French after spending so much time there.
He is quoted by The Daily Star’s Wired Column as saying: “German is not my easiest. We start in Spain, I know a little bit of Spanish so that’s much easier for me. French is easier for me. I’ve spent a lot of time in France. I spoke French from when I was a child, from when I was 11, in school and then I used to travel to France. My parents would take me.”
When it comes to songs and a setlist for the upcoming SIXTY tour, however, Mick remained tight-lipped and wants to use their huge back catalogue to “keep fans interested.”
He said: “When you rehearse you want to have a good amount of songs in your back pocket. So you can have a good choice, so you don’t have to play the same songs every night and you can keep people amused and keep the band interested.
The thing about the setlist is the rhythm of the actual list is very important, it’s got to flow right. “It can’t go up and down too quickly and so on. “It’s not just the songs, it’s the way the songs flow for the couple of hours you are on stage. “You always want to start with something that grabs people’s attention, I like to vary that so I don’t like to start with the same thing every night.”