80 years old. Age is just a number.

cc: @historyrock_ last night in Seattle 👆

So over the past 2+ days, this tweet has gone bonkers like nothing I've ever tweeted. Coming up on 5 million views, 47K likes, 1.5K comments, etc. Bananas. I think once or twice I've had a tweet get like 40-50K views, but nothing like this. So hi to you, thanks for being here. Thanks for watching the vid. Thanks for commenting or RTing or whatever you did with it. What's cool is that most people, probably 75%, got the tweet in the spirit it was intended--i.e., a statement of appreciation toward someone who's physically able to do things that 99% of 80-year-olds can't. Hell, he's 25+ years older than me and there's no chance in hell I could walk, run, and dance across half of a stadium for 2 hours. Life expectancy in this country is around 76-77, so the very fact that he's alive is against the odds. The fact that he's doing 2-hour shows and in motion for the majority of them is incredible. Some of the others thought I was suggesting he's a great dancer, but I'm not qualified to judge that. You and Mick are both great dancers compared to me. 😅 Some of the others seem upset or cynical about Mick having access to the best doctors and healthcare around because he's rich, and that's why he can perform like that. Well...yeah, no kidding. He's the frontman for arguably the biggest rock band in history, has had enormous impact on people all over the world, and the man deserves whatever great care he gets. But we shouldn't take that for granted or downplay how remarkable it is for him to do what he's doing at this age. Jon Bon Jovi is also fabulously wealthy and can access whatever healthcare he wants, but he may never be able to tour again because his vocal cords were so badly damaged. (BTW, highly recommend the Hulu docu about him/them. Really well done.) Some of the others accused me of misogyny and mentioned something about Madonna. I'm in the dark on this one. I went through my entire Twitter archive and have only tweeted her name five times -- once when she was my Song of the Day, once to announce that Borderline is my fave Madonna song, and a couple times 10 years ago when MTV replayed the 1984 VMAs and I reminisced about seeing that the first time around. Did someone say Madonna's too old?? 😒 If so, it wasn't me. I'm more of a Stevie Nicks, Chrissie Hynde fan, but nothing against Madonna. She's earned the right to perform as long as she wants. Some of the others turned the video clip into an indictment of the other party's presidential candidate. 🤔 I just can't imagine living life seeing everything through red or blue-colored glasses like that. I think in the end, though, this incredible variety of reactions to my video is a reflection of the fact that we all see things in our own way, shaped by what we see, hear, feel, and experience every day. And that's fine. That's how life works. For me, I tweet every so often about so-called "old people" doing amazing things (usually musicians, tbh) for two reasons: 1. I experienced ageism in my professional career very recently. If you're over 50 and tried to get a job in the last year or two, you might relate to this. It's not lost on me that some of the people amazed to see Mick crushing it at age 80 wouldn't even consider hiring someone 30 years younger than him for a job at their company. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 2. More importantly, as you may have seen in one of my replies to a conversation this tweet started, I came about 3-4 seconds away from dying in 2022. I saw the white clouds like I was headed to the other side. I said goodbye to my wife and family. And then I got a second chance. I can't emphasize this enough: An experience like that changes EVERYTHING. I wake up every day and thank my God for another day to experience this amazing world, and I'm committed to enjoying as much of it as I can -- including watching 80-year-olds play music. Last year, I saw Springsteen, Eagles, Journey, Sting, Joan Jett, Bryan Adams, Billy Joel, and a few other "old" rockstars -- good for them for keeping the music alive. May they continue as long as they're willing and able. 🔥 One last thing -- on a practical level, if you're a friend and you tweeted me in the past 48 hours, I probably didn't see it. I now fully understand what "RIP my mentions" means. Plz tweet again if you expected a reply and didn't get one. Have a great weekend!

How do i say this with decorum... First, I'm a child of the late 60s early 70s culture. It would be redundant to say the stones were a staple in my life, and have been a lifelong fan. I'm also a trained musician. I saw them live more times than i can count. Ok now the part you aren't going to like. I saw them in Charlotte in 2021, and August 2022 in Berlin. This is hard to say. The Charlotte show was borderline embarrassing. They had vocalists OFFSTAGE which is almost never done, and Mick was clearly singing to a click track. The Berlin show started off really poorly, with Start Me Up. Keith, bless him, was playing I dunno what, but it wasn't Start Me Up. Mick did his best to improvise till Keith got on track but it was painful. My take was this, at both shows. I get it that they want to play til they die on stage, but in both cases, 80 wasn't just a number. I won't say I think they should retire. But i WILL say that nearly everyone near us weren't having fun, and others also said it was painful. It's unfair to the audience, in spite of everyone loving on them, but with HIGH tkt prices. I felt sad (end if an era) and cheated (high tkt). I can't imagine anyone waiting this long in their touring life to see them for the 1st time. My biggest take away was that i was sorry i saw them in decline. .

My dude, your decorum is appreciated. Thanks for sharing some of your story. Here's some of mine: On Sept. 24, 2022, I was swimming in the Pacific Ocean when a huge wave tossed me around like a ragdoll, slammed me into the sand, knocked me unconscious, and temporarily paralyzed me. When I came to, I was lying on my back with a foot of water above me, staring up at the most beautiful blue sky I've ever seen...seconds away from dying because I couldn't move. Five angels came and dragged me out of the water, saving my life. Long story short, after three months of physical therapy and a lot of time to think, I took to heart what I've always known: life is short. So I went to 18 concerts last year because nothing makes me happier than live music. I saw bands and artists that I'd always put off seeing until "next time they tour" -- Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Billy Joel, Duran Duran. (I saw some that I'd seen before, too.) There was only one bad show in the bunch, but that was because all the travel caught up to me, my back and neck injuries were flaring up, and I had to leave after five songs. The Stones were always an "I'll see them next time" band for me, so I was thrilled at the chance to finally see them in Seattle this week. Were they perfect? Not at all. As I told my adult son (who was at the show with me), I thought the first 30 minutes was a bit meh. But around "You Can't Always Get What You Want," something changed and they were fantastic. I can't speak for the whole Seattle crowd, but I'd bet very few felt cheated or that anything was unfair. It's too bad you didn't have a good time at those two shows a few years ago. You have the good fortune to have lots of Stones shows to compare them to. But your experience is just that: yours. My experience is mine. And my biggest takeaway is that I'm thrilled to be alive and thrilled to finally see one of the all-time great rock bands play live. Sure beats the alternatives, y'know? Hope I responded with equal decorum as your thoughtful reply. Thanks again. Be well.

"If I'm still on stage singing Satisfaction when I'm 40, shoot me..." Mick Jagger / 1969

Yet somehow “Madonna needs to age gracefully. She’s 65! A grandma!”

If this was a woman then you wouldn’t be praising her

See what a life of overdoing drugs and alcohol will do to you? Amazing.

Except that when he made those movements in his twenties people thought he was on drugs and now doing the same moves in his eighties, people assume he forgot to take them.

He signed that contract for fame, he cannot quit if he wanted to