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highplainsdem

(63,060 posts)
Fri May 15, 2026, 10:24 AM Friday

Disappointing. The Rolling Stones turned a new single into a vanity project by using AI to de-age themselves.

We always knew Mick Jagger was vain, but I thought he was smarter than this. The video is otherwise real actors, dancers and musicians - a few guys from the young retro band Hot Property were used as body doubles for the Stones, before AI was used to make them look like Mick, Keith and Ronnie from the 1970s. The song itself isn't bad.

But Mick being willing to use AI even this much made me wonder how much he's using AI otherwise, including possibly for lyrics and music.

And with the video featuring 25-year-old actress Odessa A'zion - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/odessa-azion-interview-marty-surpreme-i-love-la-1236487185/ - licking Mick's face, I can't help thinking that 82-year-old Mick really wanted that scene, but not with her licking his 82-year-old face. And that was the main impetus for the AI de-aging.

A lot of Stones fans don't like it. See this Reddit thread from r/rollingstones:

https://www.reddit.com/r/rollingstones/comments/1tdfstv/this_new_ai_video_is_very_uncanny_valley_i_dont/

Lots of negative comments on YouTube as well.

I'd've rather seen a video with old footage of the Stones performing and partying than this. Or current video, for that matter. It's not as if we're not used to the Stones looking old.

I'm not a fan of AI being used to de-age actors, either. Or holograms of de-aged musicians being used for concert performances.

I'm curious about how DUers feel about it. Which is why I'm posting it here in GD.

29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Disappointing. The Rolling Stones turned a new single into a vanity project by using AI to de-age themselves. (Original Post) highplainsdem Friday OP
They look like a group of Rolling Stone wannabees, trying hard to act the part and failing miserably. patphil Friday #1
I believe it was Prince who said... Hugin Friday #2
Came off to me as trying too hard, but I don't object to the use of AI TheProle Friday #3
If they all had fun, then good on them luv2fly Friday #4
Boo! ProfessorGAC Friday #5
Keith and Mick are in their 80s and still making music so who cares about this video? I hope they had fun. Botany Friday #6
I saw a meme not long ago... GiqueCee Friday #13
Millions are too "busy" chatting on their capitalist phones all day to "really" care Justice matters. Friday #14
That's funny! MorbidButterflyTat Friday #18
I like it, but HAB911 Friday #7
As long as they don't use AI for their music, who gives a S#$T krawhitham Friday #8
You know who doesn't need de-aging? Fiendish Thingy Friday #9
Other young bands with a great rock or blues-rock sound: highplainsdem Friday #11
The Stones have been performing... GiqueCee Friday #15
They are a legendary band, no argument there Fiendish Thingy Friday #16
Queen, 55+ years 😍 MorbidButterflyTat Friday #19
Another great band! GiqueCee Friday #20
The Dutch band Golden Earring had been together 60 years by the time they disbanded in 2021, and highplainsdem Friday #22
My favorite band in high school! bedazzled Friday #25
Excellent choices all Tracyjo Friday #17
Did you see the 5 young bands in reply 11, too? highplainsdem Friday #21
Acknowledging your age can be noble. harumph Friday #10
Hated It DET Friday #12
You would think the Stones themselves would feel weird about it karynnj Friday #23
I'm not opposed to the use of ai in certain situations, like B.See Friday #24
I liked it sammythecat Friday #26
I think it's their business. Drum Friday #27
How ridiculous. If thinking there are few good uses for AI makes me the "Internet Purity Police" then highplainsdem 17 hrs ago #29
I thought this was some kind of nostalgia project nt GenThePerservering Yesterday #28

patphil

(9,219 posts)
1. They look like a group of Rolling Stone wannabees, trying hard to act the part and failing miserably.
Fri May 15, 2026, 10:39 AM
Friday

It doesn't even sound like Mick Jagger.
I wouldn't walk across the street to see these guys.

Hugin

(37,989 posts)
2. I believe it was Prince who said...
Fri May 15, 2026, 10:41 AM
Friday

The most difficult part of aging fame is the competition with your former self. It’s impossible to surmount legacy.

The video itself puts brand above band and violates the “always leave them wanting more”. Compared to what made the “Rolling Stones”, It’s meh.

luv2fly

(2,706 posts)
4. If they all had fun, then good on them
Fri May 15, 2026, 10:53 AM
Friday

I like the song and they look like they're having fun ... We need more fun in life these days. I have no problem with it 👍

ProfessorGAC

(77,248 posts)
5. Boo!
Fri May 15, 2026, 10:54 AM
Friday

Not that I'm a Stones fan, but this is just stupid.
Who doesn't know Mick & Keith are 80+ & look it?

Botany

(77,838 posts)
6. Keith and Mick are in their 80s and still making music so who cares about this video? I hope they had fun.
Fri May 15, 2026, 11:00 AM
Friday

The song is solid. And Keith Richard’s is still alive.

GiqueCee

(4,726 posts)
13. I saw a meme not long ago...
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:12 PM
Friday

... in which Willie Nelson wondered if young people were giving any thought to what kind of world they were going to leave for him an Keith Richards. LMAO!

Justice matters.

(10,052 posts)
14. Millions are too "busy" chatting on their capitalist phones all day to "really" care
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:27 PM
Friday

about what kind of a world they were going to leave. In fact, tens of millions don't care to register to vote, and how many millions can't find countries on a map of the entire world?

HAB911

(10,585 posts)
7. I like it, but
Fri May 15, 2026, 11:02 AM
Friday

I wish they had done it to "Time Is On My Side"

It would make such a statement on the new reality (like it or not)

krawhitham

(5,087 posts)
8. As long as they don't use AI for their music, who gives a S#$T
Fri May 15, 2026, 11:02 AM
Friday

They have been de-aging people for 20+ years now

Fiendish Thingy

(24,038 posts)
9. You know who doesn't need de-aging?
Fri May 15, 2026, 11:06 AM
Friday

Any of these bands, some of my fave new artists:

Mod Lang:

?si=C2tlm2r3i90YHu0_

Lemon Twigs:

?si=0zLWCSr_YRCRRT6W

Sharp Pins:

?si=xZk4Dpv0CVE1ElFD

I’m an old boomer, and the Stones haven’t been relevant for decades.

The bands above are the Saviours of Rock and Roll.

highplainsdem

(63,060 posts)
11. Other young bands with a great rock or blues-rock sound:
Fri May 15, 2026, 11:48 AM
Friday

Kaleo




Silveroller






The Sherlocks




Jayler




The Band Feel

GiqueCee

(4,726 posts)
15. The Stones have been performing...
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:42 PM
Friday

... steadily for 64+ years. That alone keeps them relevant. To the best of my knowledge, no other band can match that record.

I saw them live back in '69 or '70 in Boston Garden, just a few weeks after the cops had pulled Robert Plant off the stage by his hair at the stroke of midnight. B.B. King opened for them, and after his set, a Stones spokesman took to the stage and proclaimed, "IF THERE'S A COP IN THE HOUSE, THERE WON'T BE A CONCERT!"
A quick confab of cops and promoters resulted in all the cops filing out. My friend, Doug, my wife, Gail, and I were among the first to leave our nosebleed seats to stand in front of the stage. Gail couldn't see anything, so I hoisted her up on my shoulders.
After an instrumental, Mick took the stage. Gail was a huge Stones fan, and when Jagger scanned the crowd in front of the stage, the only face he could see was Gail's. She looked a lot like Jean Harlowe, and Jagger picked her out and serenaded her. Gail was so excited that she peed her pants. I had a wet back for the rest of the night.
I still love those guys. For me, their pinnacle of achievement was the Sticky Fingers album, with the cover designed by Andy Warhol and featuring a real zipper over the high-contrast B&W shot of Jagger's junk in tight Levis. Moonlight Mile still one of my favorite tunes of all time.

Fiendish Thingy

(24,038 posts)
16. They are a legendary band, no argument there
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:57 PM
Friday

But, as we have seen in politics, longevity doesn’t make anyone or anything relevant.

Relevance is determined by one’s current works, actions, art, etc.

highplainsdem

(63,060 posts)
22. The Dutch band Golden Earring had been together 60 years by the time they disbanded in 2021, and
Fri May 15, 2026, 04:52 PM
Friday

they disbanded ONLY because the band's founder and lead guitarist, George Kooymans, was stopped from playing by ALS. He passed away last summer. They'd last played a sold-out arena concert in November 2019, with plans for a spring 2020 tour postponed by the Covid shutdown. George was not only still with Golden Earring then, but was also recording and touring in a duo with American guitarist and songwriter Frank Carillo, and recording and touring in the supergroup trio Vreemde Kostgangers (Strange Boarders, a Dutch way of saying "It takes all kinds" ) with two other famous Dutch musicians, one a folksinger, the other from a ska band - and VK's last album, released after George fell ill, topped the Dutch charts.

Golden Earring would probably still be together and working if George hadn't had ALS. His old bandmates are still playing, but no longer together. It wouldn't have been Golden Earring without him. He was only 13 when he taught the 15-year-old neighbor who became his bass player to play guitar (later he married that neighbor's kid sister), and he wrote or cowrote almost all of Golden Earring's songs, wrote songs for the duo and trio he also belonged to, and wrote hits for other Dutch artists.

It would have been nice if he could have stayed healthy and young forever.



But he took good care of himself (well, after some early years of partying, including with Keith Moon, including a party after which George had to be carried onto the plane the next day), and he was still doing well before he had ALS. This is George in 2018, with the other two members of Vreemde Kostgangers, doing a song that was a huge hit for Golden Earring in the late 1960s (a song he'd written for his longtime girlfriend and future wife after she left him for a while, after he wrote hits for a beautiful young singer, starting her career). A 50-year-old hit the audience loved:


bedazzled

(1,890 posts)
25. My favorite band in high school!
Fri May 15, 2026, 08:43 PM
Friday

Love love LOVE that band!

Check out the youtube video for "something heavy going down" if you haven't. It's a riot! Sorry, I don't know how to post a link...

harumph

(3,410 posts)
10. Acknowledging your age can be noble.
Fri May 15, 2026, 11:11 AM
Friday

If acknowledgment means becoming more like yourself.

I find such use of AI off-putting, but that's just me.

DET

(2,599 posts)
12. Hated It
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:02 PM
Friday

The Rolling Stones have been my favorite band since I was a kid. These simulations don’t look like them. And the whole thing looks coarse and tacky. I don’t object to AI (even if I should), but it has to be well done. Plus I didn’t like the song.

karynnj

(61,088 posts)
23. You would think the Stones themselves would feel weird about it
Fri May 15, 2026, 08:09 PM
Friday

What does it say? That the current real Stones are not good enough for the video? This even though they wrote it and recorded it and are still touting.

I've seen AI used for things that never happened. They have never seemed "right" to me as the movements and especially the way the face changes expression seem different than memories of real video of the people.

B.See

(8,837 posts)
24. I'm not opposed to the use of ai in certain situations, like
Fri May 15, 2026, 08:29 PM
Friday

a movie scene to depict a younger character in a flashback. Or to depict a character in a continuing series when the actor has died (ex. Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia). Or its use in special effects.

But this Rolling Stone stunt. Not a fan. Personally I think it cheapens their work. Almost like a cover band miming their music, their look. It isn't them.

Embrace your longevity, fellas. You've earned it.

sammythecat

(3,602 posts)
26. I liked it
Fri May 15, 2026, 10:16 PM
Friday

I really don't care that AI was used to make them all 33. Music, while maybe not "playlist" for me, was good enough. My verdict is, it was entertaining and I liked it. We're not talking science or politics here. Just a music video. I really don't know why there's such a fuss about using AI to make it better.

Drum

(10,760 posts)
27. I think it's their business.
Fri May 15, 2026, 11:39 PM
Friday

No call to frown and scowl at The Rolling Stones for goodness sake. Take a day off, Internet Purity Police.

highplainsdem

(63,060 posts)
29. How ridiculous. If thinking there are few good uses for AI makes me the "Internet Purity Police" then
Sat May 16, 2026, 06:26 PM
17 hrs ago

there are millions of us, with the ones on Bluesky especially visible. Most forums I've seen on Reddit are pretty hostile to AI, too, unless they're specifically FOR talking about AI. Maybe those are the AI Acolytes in their online churches?

Anyway, I posted this after seeing that Reddit thread pop up when I did a search for the new video. The people who register and post in subreddits for particular artists tend to be hardcore fans, and a lot of those fans on r/rollingstones hate the AI use in the video. Same with a lot of fans posting on YouTube. And I saw harsh statements about the AI use from some magazines.

And while you could say that anything the Rolling Stones do is their business, their fans' reaction to it is the fans' business. We see plenty of examples on DU of people here deciding to turn against artists for various reasons.

I was curious about what DUers would think of the video, so I posted this.

Btw, the threads on r/rollingstones about this included messages from one of the several drummers in the video. He said he didn't like the use of AI in the video either.

It's a sensible attitude from a young musician who really shouldn't want musicians who've been stars for several decades using AI and other tech to fake a youthful appearance and keep going indefinitely.

The members of Kiss are planning to use digital avatars to keep sucking up money music fans have to spend on concerts:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/kiss-band-digital-avatars-180983388/

That's not AI, but it's a similar plan to keep going as a fake band when they should retire.

It was sad when Abba did it, too.

Mick Jagger was asked a few years ago if the Stones would ever use digital avatars, and he refused to answer other than saying that "we're already in an AI world."

I'm all in favor of older musicians continuing to make new music and tour as long as they want to and are able to, and as long as their fans want new music and concerts from them. But if they need high-tech fraud to appear to be performing, they should step aside for others. Fans can still enjoy older performances that were real.

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