Why Brian Jones Was Always Doomed in The Rolling Stones, According to Mick Jagger

The 27 Club is full of iconic, pioneering artists whose star tragically shone too bright, snuffing out in a wisp of smoke—not the least of whom was Brian Jones, founding member of The Rolling Stones, who died less than one month after his acrimonious split from the band. Decades later, the band is still rolling, and every member is a far, far cry from their late 20s, where Jones was doomed to stay.

And with those many, many years of experience, both in the professional and general “life” senses, Mick Jagger will admit that Jones was likely never going to last in a band like The Rolling Stones. “Brian had all kinds of problems,” Jagger said in a 2026 interview with Mojo. “One of them is that some people should be very careful about going into show business.”

Jones’ “all kinds of problems” ranged from substance abuse disorder to poor emotional regulation to his alienation from the band after their sound began to evolve away from traditional blues and into more originals by Jagger and Keith Richards. As one would expect, all three of these issues fed into the other, exacerbating them incrementally until, finally, Jones announced his official departure from the band on June 9, 1969. The decision was mutual, although Jagger, Richards, and Charlie Watts were technically the ones who made the final call.

Mick Jagger Doesn’t Think Brian Jones Was Psychologically Capable of Stardom

Of course, in those youthful moments, it can be tempting to think that you know a lot more than you do—oh, to be in one’s mid-to-late 20s and assume they know everything about everything. But Mick Jagger and his fellow Rolling Stones bandmates have lived through so much more, have experienced so much more, and have learned so much more in the decades since Brian Jones’ departure and tragic passing. That hindsight comes with a lot of clarity.

“He might have been psychologically suited to being a session musician,” Jagger suggested to Mojo. “He was playing dulcimer, marimba, xylophone, all that sort of thing. But to be in a band, in that era, as a young star… It puts a lot of pressure on you. There’s a lot of competitiveness, a lot of b****iness, and your music-making takes second place to all the externals you were not ready for and weren’t even expecting. You’ve got to be really tough to survive.”

Sadly, Jones would never be able to put Jagger’s assumptions to the test. In early July 1969, Jones’ girlfriend, Anna Wohlin, discovered the multi-instrumentalist at the bottom of his swimming pool. Coroners ruled his passing as “death by misadventure.” Jones’ contemporaries flooded in with memorials for the late musician, including Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, both of whom would die shortly after Jones. Morrison even died on the same day. They are all in the 27 Club.

Photo by Mondadori via Getty Images

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