Mick Jagger on AI: It’s Fine for Musicians, But Not If It Sounds Like Him
The Rolling Stones frontman offers his thoughts on artificial intelligence in music.
July 17, 2026
Mick Jagger has given a qualified blessing to musicians who use artificial intelligence, but with one big caveat: the output must be original. As he told Billboard in a recent interview, "If someone wants to make music by AI, go ahead. But it has to be original."
Jagger draws the line when AI starts "conjuring an entire song that leans on somebody else’s catalogue" without the artist’s consent. He emphasizes that "There are people who use AI to just make a song from scratch, in the style of the Rolling Stones," which he finds unacceptable. "If you were any kind of creative person, you wouldn’t do that."
His concerns are both principled and practical. "Obviously I don’t want to be imitated by AI, vocally and instrumentally, and the band doesn’t," he says, adding that anything sounding "exactly like the Rolling Stones" is "obviously wrong."
While not entirely opposed to AI’s use in music, Jagger believes it should serve as a tool for creativity rather than a replacement. "I’d rather hear something original," he stated, "Music could do a lot better than just trying to copy itself."
This debate comes at an interesting time with the release of Foreign Tongues, the band’s 25th studio album, and the recent use of deepfakes in their music video for "In the Stars," which superimposed younger versions of the band onto actors.
Jagger acknowledges AI’s potential to help artists overcome creative blocks, but his own experience with it has been less than positive. "Testing AI to help name an earlier record, it came back with such rubbish, it didn’t help me at all," he shared with The Times of London.
Despite his reservations, the music industry as a whole has shown no hesitation in embracing AI technology, from Sony’s AI drummer to Spotify’s conversational AI that shapes listener experiences.