Little Steven: “Without the Beatles the Stones would not have existed”

Better the Beatles or the Rolling Stones? For classic rock fans it’s like answering the question: “Do you love your mom or dad more?”. But regarding the importance of the two legendary bands for the history of rock, Little Steven has no doubts: that of the Beatles was greater. «Without the Beatles the Rolling Stones would not have existed», writes Bruce Springsteen’s guitarist on X, giving his opinion on the two groups.

Little Steven’s analysis continues as follows: «The Rolling Stones have never been a pop band. Their most extraordinary achievement, often underestimated, was to move from the world of rock to that of pop for 60 years. But it would never have happened if the Beatles hadn’t given him the second single (“I wanna be your man”, signed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, ed.) after the fiasco of the first. The Beatles were so big at the time that radio had to play anything bearing their name. And that’s the only way radio and pop radio audiences had a chance to get used to Mick Jagger’s voice.”

Of the band’s “(I can’t get no) Satisfaction” frontman Little Steven adds: «He’s one of the greatest singers of all time, as we all know, but he didn’t have a traditionally commercial pop voice. It was more colloquial, more R&B influenced. And it was the acceptance of Mick Jagger’s voice on pop radio that allowed equally non-commercial voices to be accepted on pop radio. Everyone, from Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen, to give two examples.”