Jeremy Clarkson Admits He Hated The Rolling Stones In Touching Tribute To Drummer Charlie Watts
Jeremy Clarkson has recently revealed his anger over The Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger after the frontman was awarded a knighthood despite “actively boasted about being a tax exile”.
The singer was awarded the knighthood in 2003 for his services to music a whole 32 years since the band had moved to the south of France to record their hit Exile on Main St. Now, after the death of the band’s drummer Charlie Watts, The Grand Tour presenter brought up his interest in music growing up.
Jeremy revealed that he’d loved The Who, which, according to the ex-Top Gear presenter, meant that he “had to actively hate all of the other bands”. He added that he hated the Rolling Stones the most.
“It was the Rolling Stones that I loathed most of all,” he began.
“My mate Andy would try to argue that they were the heart and soul of rock music, to which I would retort that they weren’t even the gall bladder.
“And even to this day I can sometimes be found asking why the b***** hell Mick Jagger got a knighthood when he actively boasted about being a tax exile,” he questioned. Although he did add that his thoughts on the matter had “mellowed” since then, and even admitted that “the Stones did produce the odd listenable moment”.
In 2010, Mick Jagger commented on why they left England and what effect this had on their tax rates:
“We had to leave England to acquire enough money to pay the taxes because in those days, in England, the high tax rate was 90 per cent, so that’s very hard.
“You made 100 pounds, they took 90. So it was very difficult to pay any debts back.
“So when we left the country, we would get more than the 10 pounds out of 100.
“You know, we might get 50 or something,” he told Larry King on CNN.
Mick still doesn’t live in the UK, spending only a few months each year in the country between France and the West Indies.
Jeremy had a few words to say about the late drummer Charlie, describing his as “a very selfless soul” who was “never terribly happy with the cards he’d been dealt” while staying true to his loyalty to the band. This makes Jeremy “sad”, adding that “for 60-odd years, Charlie earned a living by staring at Mick Jagger’s backside.”
