Jethro Tull lead singer and flutist Ian Anderson spoke candidly about the struggles of singing as you get older in a new interview. Within that discussion, he may have thrown a few garbs at a couple of classic singers along the way.

Anderson, 77, was a video guest on Now Spinning Magazine, discussing how he handles the demands of singing and playing the flute at his age. In 2020, Anderson revealed he was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and thought that his career was coming to an end. The vocalist still performs to this day, and the British rock band is currently on a European tour. While speaking about his experiences, Anderson drew his attention to The Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger.

“It depends what you do,” said Anderson as transcribed by Blabbermouth. “You can be physically animated, but there’s a degree to which you can only do so much if you’re playing a flute. If you are Mick Jagger and you’re just running around with sort of shout-out vocals, then, yeah, no disrespect, but Mick Jagger didn’t set the bar very high in terms of vocal skills right from the very beginning.”

Anderson then went on to speak about Jagger’s vocal style, which it doesn’t seem like he’s a fan of.

“So, he’s a shouter, and he doesn’t have to really hit the notes or necessarily be terribly great on intonation or phrasing or anything,” Anderson stated. “He’s a shouter, and he runs around in a very animated way, and that’s great for someone who’s — whatever — a couple of years older than me, or three years older than me.”

The Jethro Tull singer then spoke about singers such as the late Ozzy Osbourne, Phil Collins, and Billy Joel, who all have experienced physical ailments and conditions that have affected their abilities to perform. Anderson’s comments aren’t despite them, but rather acknowledging a thankfulness that he can still perform.

“Luckily, I’m not in a position of poor old Ozzy Osbourne or equally poor old Phil Collins, or Billy Joel or a whole bunch of other people whose performance has been essentially terminated forever because, although they’re still alive, they’re not physically capable of doing concerts,” said Anderson. “And that’s hopefully a way off in my life. But you’ve gotta face reality. I’ll be 78 in a couple of weeks’ time. And that’s bringing with it a few issues.”

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Murjani Rawls may be reached at mrawls@njadvancemedia.com

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