Mick Jagger says Keith Richards is not like a brother to him

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards perform in Chicago. Photo/AP

Sir Mick Jagger says he and Keith Richards are not as close as brothers.

While The Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has suggested the pair are like family to each other, the ageing rocker has dismissed the idea.

He said: "People always say things like that. But I have a brother [Chris Jagger], you know? My relationship with my brother is nothing at all like my relationship with Keith, which is someone you work with, completely different.

"With a brother, you have parents in common, families in common. We don't have that, Keith and I. We work together.

"If you didn't have a brother you might say that it was like being a brother. But being in a band is another kind of relationship."

The 69-year-old singer admitted he does share a "bond" with his band mates, but he refused to concede it was the same relationship he has with his relatives.

He told the Mail on Sunday newspaper's Event magazine: "Well, yeah, if you work with someone that long, it makes a lot of bonds, a lot of memories and things you relate to from your past.

"You have reference points that you can evoke. You have relationships with everyone in the band, and you have relationships with people in the periphery of the band, so it's a large group. But it isn't a family."

- Bang! Showbiz