Mick's comments from NPR interview earlier this year:
While Jagger took on side projects during the '60s and '70s, it wasn't until 1985 that he decided to attempt a solo career, releasing the album She's the Boss. So what was the reaction from the other Stones when he took that leap?
"When you work with people in any creative endeavor, they never like you to do anything else. They just want you to work with them. That's just a sort of a knee-jerk reaction. I mean, you sort of understand it, but personally, I don't mind.
"At the time, the Stones would do one album every three years and that was it. I thought, 'It's just not enough.' I mean, 12 songs at a time? I had far too many songs of my own for The Rolling Stones to record. I could say, 'OK, make more Rolling Stones records,' but they take a long time to make and are quite complicated, and then you go on tour and all those things. I think that was the real driving force of my going solo."
In 1989, with two solo albums and a brief Stones-less tour behind him, Jagger returned to the fold. He continues to create music under his own name, but his front-man role in the group he founded remains his primary commitment. What did he learn that he would not have experienced with the Stones?
"In the end, I'm a singer and I'm just singing. That's what I do, and that's what I do with The Rolling Stones, as well. People say, 'It must be really different!' It's not really that different. You're singing, and no one else is in the studio, it's usually midnight and it doesn't really matter who's playing in the end. As long as it sounds good to you."
Interview here:
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www.npr.org]