“Why did I take his advice?!”

Mick Jagger says John Lennon convinced him to never meet Elvis: ‘Really stupid of me’

“Why did I take his advice?!”

By Peter Gicas

Peter Gicas

Peter Gicas is an editor-writer at .

EW's editorial guidelines

July 14, 2026 5:45 p.m. ET

Mick Jagger; Elvis Presley; John Lennon. Credit:

- Mick Jagger says John Lennon told him “that you should never meet your heroes.”

- As a result, the Rolling Stones frontman never crossed paths with Elvis Presley.

- “Why did I take his advice?!” Jagger wonders.

For Mick Jagger, the fact that he never got to meet Elvis Presley has him all shook up.

While making an appearance on Monday’s *Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend* podcast, the Rolling Stones frontman revealed that he and the King had never crossed paths, to which a shocked Conan O’Brien replied, “That’s incredible to me.”

Jagger shared that it stemmed from the fact that none other than John Lennon once told him “that you should never meet your heroes.”**

Mick Jagger in New York City on May 7.

Theo Wargo/Getty

He said the late Beatles legend advised him, “‘I would never meet Elvis, Mick, if I were you.’ And so I didn’t. I took John’s advice.”

Jagger added that, in hindsight, “It was really stupid of me, really. I would have loved to have met Elvis. Why did I take John’s advice?!”

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our ******EW Dispatch newsletter******.***

He continued, “I mean, at the time, it seemed to ring... He told me all this story [of meeting Presley in 1965] more than once, so it put me off. So I wanted to keep my Elvis to myself, my version of Elvis. So I didn’t want my version of Elvis shattered like John’s was, but maybe my Elvis version would have been different.”**

Mick Jagger questioned if Paul McCartney could pull off Rolling Stones collab: 'No mucking about'

Mick Jagger puts decades-old Rolling Stones-Beatles rivalry rumors to rest, once and for all

While Jagger might regret taking Lennon’s advice, it doesn’t seem like it played a part in the long-standing rivalry rumors surrounding the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, which Jagger recently addressed.

“I think there was an element of truth in it,” Jagger admitted during an appearance on the *Today* show’s Sunday Sitdown With Willie Geist. “But I think there was an element of PR in it, too. But it was also London [versus] Liverpool, so it’s a bit like L.A. [and] New York. Obviously, that was a good talking point for press to get on.”

But clearly any supposed rivalry between the legendary bands is water under the bridge. After all, Beatles icon Paul McCartney not only joined the Stones on their 2024 *Hackney Diamonds* track “Bite My Head Off,” he also collaborated on a song for the Rolling Stones’ latest album, *Foreign Tongues*.

Watch Mick Jagger talk about never meeting Elvis Presley in the video below.

- Celebrities & Creators

- Entertainment Industry Roles

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Musicians”