Mick Jagger reveals he praised Elon Musk in a new song—NYT journo is shocked

Mick Jagger has spent more than six decades choosing his words carefully, but one lyric from the Rolling Stones’ latest album appears to have caught New York Times interviewer David Marchese off guard in a discussion on Monday.

When Jagger mentioned businessman and former DOGE advisor Elon Musk in the song “Mr. Charm” from the band’s new album “Foreign Tongues,” Marchese asked the singer about the album, "Something's nagging at you, what is it?" He then pointed out that Musk was the only person specifically named on the album, suggesting the reference may have carried a deeper negative meaning. Jagger, however, pushed back and said listeners had misunderstood the line. “It’s just that people, they hear one word and they don’t really listen to the line,” the Rolling Stones frontman explained to a shocked Marchese.

The lyric asks who someone would trust to get them into space, referring to Musk as “mad mogul Mr. Musk.” While the wording may have sounded dismissive at first glance, Jagger said the reference was actually inspired by Musk’s role in helping return NASA astronauts when other transportation options were unavailable. “When I wrote that, I was thinking that because of him, they were able to get those astronauts back,” Jagger said.

“Who would you trust to get you into space?” Jagger continued. “Would you trust Boeing or would you trust NASA or would you trust mad mogul Mr. Musk?” Rather than being an attack, Jagger described the lyrics as “a sidewinding compliment,” saying Musk was the person he remembered stepping in and accomplishing something others could not.

"Well, that's what you get for using the adjective 'mad'", Marchese said.

“Mogul doesn’t always go down well,” Jagger responded.

“No one likes a mogul," Marchese argued.

The clip got varying reactions online, with one user saying, "This interviewer really irritated me, [he is] really smug... presuming that Jagger agrees with his statements embedded in his questions.”