Keith Richards says 'Jagger knighthood it's a paltry honor'

LOS ANGELES (Blender Magazine) - As the Rolling Stones prepare to launch a North American tour, guitarist Keith Richards can barely contain his scorn for lifelong buddy Mick Jagger's recent knighthood.

"It's a paltry honor. ...," Richards said in U.S. music monthly Blender's September issue, due out Aug. 13.

Richards, who co-founded the Rolling Stones with Jagger in 1962, said the singer should have held out for a lordship. Instead, he has been thrown into "the same bin" as Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John, Richards noted.

Jagger received his knighthood in Queen Elizabeth's annual birthday honors list in June. Along with McCartney and John, he was accorded the relatively lowly rank of knight bachelor.

Richards, whose fondness for hard living makes him an unlikely candidate for any royal honor, said he would not bow to social etiquette and call his sidekick Sir Mick.
"You can call him what you like; we have other names for him," he said.

The Rolling Stones are currently in Toronto rehearsing for a tour that begins Sept. 3 in Boston.