Although Mick Jagger is not technically a Baby Boomer, having been born in 1943, you'd be hard pressed to find a group that better represents that generation than the Rolling Stones. This is my perception as a Gen-Xer, of course, but I'd wager many a Boomer sees songs like You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Paint It Black, and Satisfaction as part of the soundtrack of their youths.
By contrast, Bruce Springsteen is a hardcore Boomer, both in birth year and attitude. Born in 1949 and still devoted to the angry social anthems that once defined his generation, Springsteen is TDS-riddled old f@rt and he really wants you to know it. One of the last times we heard from The Boss on the pages of RedState was back in January, when he penned a tribute to anti-ICE protesters like Renee Good, who paid a steep price for being foolish. (And, no, Bruce apparently didn't have the time nor the inclination to pay similar tribute to Americans killed at the hands of illegal aliens.)
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Jagger made headlines this past weekend when, during a sit-down with The New York Times, he didn't take the bait thrown out by interviewer David Marchese, who wanted to know Jagger's thoughts on Springsteen's politically-charged concert tour that apparently sees him lecturing his audience about Donald Trump (who, for his part, has called Bruce a "dried up prune").
Marchese said Springsteen “clearly sees his job as engaging in a meaningful back and forth” with fans before asking Jagger, “What does your relationship to the audience mean to you? What do they represent, all those people out there?”
What Marchese was likely looking for from Jagger was an anti-Trump tirade. What he got instead was a masterclass in being a rock god. Meh, said Jagger, that's not my job. "The bottom line of my thing really is that my job in the live music world is [for] those people that come is to have the best time they possibly can," commented Sir Mick.
“It’s similar to going to a sports event, really, because everything else is shouted out,” he continued. “You’re just watching who’s going to win. You’re not worrying about everything else.”
“You don’t want to lecture them,” he added.
Mick Jagger throws a little shade at Bruce Springsteen after a NYT podcast host mentions Springsteen, claiming the latter engages in "meaningful back and forth with his audience" when he goes on anti-Trump rants:
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) July 13, 2026
NYT: "You have somebody like a Bruce Springsteen who clearly sees… pic.twitter.com/74S3obX4xC
Mick Jagger throws a little shade at Bruce Springsteen after a NYT podcast host mentions Springsteen, claiming the latter engages in "meaningful back and forth with his audience" when he goes on anti-Trump rants:
NYT: "You have somebody like a Bruce Springsteen who clearly sees his job as engaging in a meaningful back and forth with his audience...What does your relationship to the audience mean to you?"
Jagger: "It depends where you are and what kind of event it is...my job is to make them have the best time they could possibly have...and you don't want to lecture them."
NYT: "You don't want to lecture them..."
If you really want to see leftist heads explode, tell them that Mick Jagger not only happily declines to preach about the evils of Donald Trump, he also likes Elon Musk.
Watch the NYT podcaster's face when he realizes Mick Jagger likes and respects Elon Musk—after initially thinking a new Rolling Stones song lyric was a diss:
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) July 14, 2026
NYT: "But something's nagging at you, what is it?"
Jagger: "No, it's not nagging. It's just that people, they hear one… pic.twitter.com/UuuIgPSSyG
NYT: "But something's nagging at you, what is it?"
Jagger: "No, it's not nagging. It's just that people, they hear one word and they don't really listen to the line. So it's like, 'So Mick Jagger has a go at Elon Musk.' You're not listening to the line, you're only listening to 'Musk,' that's all you're hearing...even though I do call him mad."
NYT: "And he's the one person you name on the whole album; no other person! It seems like it would have some importance."
Jagger: "He's the only name check...When I wrote that, I was thinking that because of him, they were able to get those astronauts back that were stuck because he provided the transportation because NASA couldn't provide the transportation...Who would you trust to get you into space? Would you trust Boeing or would you trust NASA or would you trust mad mogul Mr. Musk? It's really a side-winding compliment becuase he was the one I remembered was able to do that when the others couldn't."
NYT: "Well, that's what you get for using the adjective 'mad.'"
Jagger: "And mogul, mogul doesn't always go down well, either."
NYT: "No one likes a mogul."
Make no mistake, Mick Jagger is no angel – just ask Jerry Hall. But, as the kids say, he understands the assignment. Springsteen, however, makes it seem like it's only his billion dollar bank account that separates him from the denture-clad hippies who gather down the street on Friday afternoons to shout "No Kings" inanities to passing cars, whose drivers occasionally honk in return, possibly mistaking the crowd for the senior daycare group out on a field trip.
You get the feeling, based on their words and behavior, that fans show up for Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones knowing the band loves and appreciates them, while many go to Springsteen gigs knowing he doesn't.
And that may be the clearest difference between the two aging rockers: Mick Jagger still understands the audience is the customer and he is the product – and a God tier one at that – while Bruce Springsteen increasingly treats his fans as a captive congregation. I know which one I'd pick.
