India, Aug. 7 -- I have just become a fan of Mick Jagger and his band, The Rolling Stones. How ridiculous does that sound? It's 2026. Jagger and his mates founded the band in 1962 - 64 years ago - and I've been listening to them ardently for more than half a century.

Perhaps I should rephrase that. I have become a born-again fan of Jagger, 83.

Last month, the Stones released their 25th British studio album, Foreign Tongues, along with the customary blitz of promotional interviews. On talk-show host Conan O'Brien's podcast, Jagger talked about David Hockney, the great British painter who died in London in June, a month short of his 89th birthday. He sounded almost boyish with admiration: here was a man who had kept reinventing himself ri...