The Rolling Stones hit Jazz Fest this year with a bang. Mick Jagger joined forces with Irma Thomas for a historic duet of the hit classic "Time Is On My Side."
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So what makes this duet so historic? Well for those who didn't know, Thomas is actually the original singer for the tune. The Rolling Stones sort of "stole" it and made it their own. So, seeing Jagger and Thomas perform together gave fans of the song the best crossover that they could imagine.
Taking to X, several fans celebrated the crossover. One wrote, "A duet like this is the pinnacle of what Jazz Fest can be."
Another commented, "Great to see Mick Jagger inviting the amazing Irma Thomas on stage at Jazz Fest in New Orleans to reprise her classic."
Still another wrote, "A historic duet with Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones and Irma Thomas at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival."
Irma Thomas Talks Mick Jagger
Speaking with NOLA, Thomas opened up about The Rolling Stones and her classic song. Thomas originally had some mixed feelings about Jagger recording her tune. In particular, she got upset that audiences soon accused her of stealing the song from The Rolling Stones, when it was originally hers.
She said, "At that time I was going through some personal changes. "Time Is On My Side" was fitting in with my lifestyle at the time. No matter what, you have hope. I think I sung it like I needed help! When I went over to Europe to do a tour, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger showed up at one of my gigs and they told me that they loved the song. They actually said that they were probably going to record it. So I wasn't surprised."
She continued, "My problem started when people started saying that I was doing their song. So I stopped doing it for a long time. I didn't sing it for years.That was during the British Invasion. If you were British, whether you could sing or not, you were going to be a hit. I've never been angry with them. I just got tired of explaining it all. Now people can Google it and realize that I'm not singing the Rolling Stones."
Thomas slyly hid the fact that she was going to perform the song with Jagger, saying, "I'm going to try to visit with him (during Jazz Fest). I don't know if he's going to have enough time to say hello. But I'm going to see whether or not he has selective amnesia."
