When the world learned of Charlie Watts ' death at age 80, an unusual story once again gained prominence in the media: the day Watts punched Mick Jagger because he had been called "my drummer" by his colleague.
Fights in rock bands are normal and expected, but this event becomes curious because of the moderate, humble, and elegant personality of The Rolling Stones , always in contrast with his bandmates or other musicians.
The story was confirmed by Watts himself during an interview with 60 Minutes in 1994. When discussing the role of each band member, the musician praised all his colleagues but showed profound modesty when speaking about himself. “I’ve always considered myself a drummer, I keep the rhythm and help everyone [so they can] do their part,” he said. “What I do, I don’t know. I’ll never look at myself that way.”
When asked by the interviewer about the reason for the feud with Mick Jagger, given that Charlie himself considered himself "just a drummer," the musician explained, "He annoyed me, he referred to me as 'his' drummer, and that annoyed me once. I always thought of him as 'my' singer. They're both right, that's what I meant, it was something that annoyed me at the time."
After responding, Watts reflected on the episode in another way. “If you stop to think about it, it’s actually an honor for someone to say ‘That’s mine…’. But it annoyed me,” he laughed.
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