Jethro Tull vocalist Ian Anderson discussed the physical challenges of singing at an older age in a new interview, but, in doing so, managed to belittle Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger as “a shouter.” He also offered up a somewhat callous comment about Phil Collins, Billy Joel, and Ozzy Osbourne (although it should be noted that the interview was conducted shortly before Ozzy passed away).
Back in 2020, Anderson revealed he was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and reasoned that his “days as a singer are numbered.” However, he has continued to perform since then, and is in the midst of a European tour with Jethro Tull, with dates scheduled well into 2026.
In a video conversation with Now Spinning Magazine (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), Anderson talked about the physical demands of singing and playing the flute at age 77, remarking, “It depends what you do. You can be physically animated, but there’s a degree to which you can only do so much if you’re playing a flute. If you are Mick Jagger and you’re just running around with sort of shout-out vocals, then, yeah, no disrespect, but Mick Jagger didn’t set the bar very high in terms of vocal skills right from the very beginning.”
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Anderson added, “So, he’s a shouter, and he doesn’t have to really hit the notes or necessarily be terribly great on intonation or phrasing or anything. He’s a shouter, and he runs around in a very animated way, and that’s great for someone who’s — whatever — a couple of years older than me, or three years older than me. That’s fine. But it’s not that easy if you’re trying to play a flute … there is a limit to what you can do. And it tends to be that if I’m not playing the flute, I’m singing.”
As far as his own health, Anderson revealed, “I seem to have overcome my problems with finding out late in life that I was asthmatic. That is now virtually completely under control and it doesn’t cause me problems at all.”
Later on, Anderson brought up the three aforementioned legendary singers who were having health issues (including Ozzy before his passing), saying, “Luckily, I’m not in a position of poor old Ozzy Osbourne or equally poor old Phil Collins, or Billy Joel or a whole bunch of other people whose performance has been essentially terminated forever because, although they’re still alive, they’re not physically capable of doing concerts. And that’s hopefully a way off in my life. But you’ve gotta face reality. I’ll be 78 in a couple of weeks’ time. And that’s bringing with it a few issues.”
The Jethro Tull singer went on to say he was having issues with his knee, but otherwise feels pretty good these days. He also mentioned that he gets a colonoscopy every few years because his brother died of colon cancer.
Ian Anderson’s interview with Now Spinning Magazine can be seen below.
