Mick Jagger Calls Out Louisiana’s Governor – Jeff Landry Responds

The worlds of politics and music collided Thursday night at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The musical side of the collision was provided by the iconic band, the Rolling Stones, and their always outspoken lead singer Mick Jagger. The political side of the "dust-up" came from Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. 

The Rolling Stones's arrival on the stage at Jazz Fest on Thursday was the culmination of a five-year odyssey. The band's performance last night was five years to the day that the band was initially supposed to play the Fair Grounds.

Stones' Performance in New Orleans Was Five Years in the Making

The Stones's 2019 performance in New Orleans was put on the back burner because frontman Mick Jagger required heart surgery. The show was postponed and the band was rebooked to play in New Orleans in 2021. That show was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, to get Mick and the Stones on a stage in New Orleans to actually put on a show has been a bit of a quest.

Most observers who had insight into Thursday's show at Jazz Fest say they had more concerns over crowd control than they did political controversy. You see organizers of Jazz Fest, in order to make a Thursday night one-off event work financially, had to prohibit blankets and tarps from the festival grounds. But that turned out to not be the biggest story from the Rolling Stones NOLA show on Thursday.

Mick Jagger Gets Political During Louisiana Show

Just as Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones finished their iconic hit "Can't Always Get What You Want" Jagger spoke to the crowd about inclusion. He noted that Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry was in attendance and then told the crowd, "We want to include him too, even if he wants to take us back to the Stone Age." Jagger's quote was reported in a story published on NOLA.com.

Jeff Landry heard what Jagger had to say and he responded to the rock n roll icon via X, formerly Twitter, this way.

Landry's response appeared to be very good-natured and if we are being honest, was pretty darn funny. Needless to say, there appears to be no harm and no particular foul in this case. And the fact that Landry extended an olive branch of sorts by suggesting that Mick and his band were always welcome in Louisiana was a very nice touch too.

Who knows, maybe it is possible to disagree about politics and policy and still keep things civil. But what fun would that be, right?