The Root of the Mick Jagger–Keith Richards Feud in the Mid-1980s

The real kicker wasn’t that Mick Jagger went solo—it was that he did it without telling Keith Richards. After the Stones released Dirty Work in 1986, Jagger flew to Australia to promote his first solo album She’s the Boss, then refused to tour with the band. Richards, who had just gotten clean after years of heroin addiction, saw it as a betrayal. He wanted to hit the road to rebuild the Stones’ reputation; Jagger wanted to prove he could be a pop star on his own terms.

Richards’ famous line—calling the feud “World War III” and Jagger’s solo ambitions “his majesty’s request”—wasn’t just a dig at Mick’s ego. It reflected a deeper break in trust. Jagger had signed a solo record deal with CBS without telling the band, and Richards found out through a music exec. To Keith, the band was a brotherhood. To Mick, it was becoming a cage. That tension—loyalty vs. ambition—fueled the nastiest years of their partnership.