(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Wed 3 December 2025 18:00, UK
Like him or not, one thing that you can always attribute to Mick Jagger and his vocal style is that it is distinctive, and to a certain degree, inimitable.
Of course, plenty of people have tried to mimic the sound of The Rolling Stones frontman over the years, whether that’s other artists who have idolised the singer and wanted to emulate him or if it’s Dave from your local karaoke night, but nobody has ever managed to recreate the same energy that Jagger has always possessed, no matter how valiant their attempts.
This is the sort of characteristic that all vocalists arguably want to be able to claim for themselves, so it’s surprising that so many people want to imitate others rather than develop their own unique quirks. In Jagger’s case, his decision to develop this particular trait was what helped him become so easily identifiable on record.
However, there are some who might argue that this isn’t something that someone can develop by putting effort into it over the years, and having a completely unique approach to vocals isn’t something that you’re fortunate enough to be able to work on.
Many would argue that Jagger contorted his voice into this shape over the course of several years, and only really became as prominent as the band got bigger, but if you listen to their earliest releases, there’s not a great deal of difference between that and how he sounded ten or 20 years later. In addition to this, you also only need to listen to his natural speaking voice to get a further indication of the fact that this isn’t something that he’s putting on.
In fact, during a 1994 interview with Hotpress, Jagger was asked whether there’s any element of skill behind developing your own voice, and while he acknowledged that you’ve still got to put in effort, there’s an element of the voice being a gift.
“Every time you perform on a record, you’ve really got to be on,” he claimed. “It’s like acting in a film. You can go through the motions and still deliver the lines, but if you’re not on, the personality won’t come across.”
He continued by declaring that having a recognisable voice is something you can’t necessarily teach, and he expressed acknowledgement of another artist who was bestowed with this same gift. “It’s something you’re born with, a distinctive sound on your voice,” Jagger continued. “Frank Sinatra certainly had that voice. I don’t particularly like Frank Sinatra’s voice, but it’s fantastically distinctive, and you know it’s him as soon as you hear it. And it’s just completely luck. It’s like an opera singer’s voice. You can’t train someone to be an opera singer if they’re not born with that equipment.”
While he may not be a fan of Sinatra as an artist, Jagger is absolutely accurate in his assertion that his voice is unique, and that’s something that not every performer can be blessed with. Learning to play an instrument is something that can easily be manipulated, but being able to control the human voice has a degree of luck about it, and there aren’t many luckier vocalists out there than Sinatra.
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