Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is a "power freak" who is also a "bit vain", bandmate Keith Richards said in an interview set to be published Thursday.
Speaking to Uncut magazine in an interview to promote a Martin Scorsese documentary about the band, "Shine A Light", the guitarist also said he would have told his younger self to "lay off" drugs.
"Mick's a maniac. He can't get up in the morning without knowing immediately who he's going to call," the 64-year-old Richards said.
"Meanwhile, I just go 'Thank God I'm awake' and wait for three or four hours before I do anything. He is a power freak and there's nothing we can do about it. I don't want to do anything about it. Let him bugger about. It doesn't make any difference to what we do."
Addressing Jagger's on-stage presence, Richards told the magazine, "Excuse me while I laugh. He's a bit vain, let's put it like that," before adding: "We want a vain bloke up there, don't we? Meanwhile, the band can go to work. Vanity will not carry a band. But a band can carry vanity."
Richards was also asked what message he would want to send to his younger self, to which he responded: "I'd have said 'Lay off the dope.' That's my advice now to all younger members who are into this sort of thing -- oh, give it up, it ain't really worth it.
"I know the fascination, but it ain't worth it, pal."
In the interview, he also belittled Led Zeppelin's December one-off reunion gig, telling Uncut: "They had one? Well, well done Jimmy (Page) and Robert (Plant). F**k off. Stairway To Heaven don't make it for me, baby."
