Mick Jagger Expresses Regret Over Not Meeting Elvis Presley, Calls Decision a Mistake

Mick Jagger had a missed connection with the King.

In a recent interview on the podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, the Rolling Stones frontman reflected on heeding John Lennon’s advice not to meet Elvis Presley. “I remember John telling me, ‘Yeah, you should never meet your heroes,’” Jagger, 82, said. “So, I didn’t. I took John’s advice.”

Looking back, Jagger admitted that it “was really stupid of me” because he would “have loved to have met Elvis.”

The rocker recounted Lennon often sharing details about the Beatles’ 1965 encounter with Presley at his Bel Air mansion. O’Brien added context from the visit, noting Lennon was “disappointed” by the interaction.

“I wanted to keep my Elvis to myself, my version of Elvis,” Jagger said. “I didn’t want my version of Elvis shattered like John’s was. But maybe my Elvis version would have been different.”

According to Beatles historian Tony Barrow, the band’s initial meeting with Presley was underwhelming. “John asked what had happened to the old rock ’n’ roll Elvis, who at that point was mainly singing the soundtracks to his films,” Barrow told The Guardian. “He was half-joking, but he meant it.”

Luckily, the atmosphere improved as Presley joined the conversation with guitars, sparking a jam session. “That is when the party took off,” Barrow recalled. “With words, they didn’t have much to say. But as soon as they got into the music, the conversation began to spark.”

Despite the musical turn, Lennon’s expectations remained unmet: “John said it had been about as exciting as meeting Engelbert Humperdinck.”

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