"Mixed Emotions" is a song by English rock band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

from their 1989 album, '' Steel Wheels''. Written by

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

while on vacation in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...

, "Mixed Emotions" was a heavy collaborative effort between Jagger and Richards. Richards brought his own music to the sessions along with most of the song's lyrics, the rest being filled in by Jagger in the studio. Released on 21 August 1989 in the United Kingdom, the song reached 1 in Canada and No. 5 in the United States while becoming a top-ten hit in Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway. To date, it was the band's final ''Billboard'' Top Ten hit.

Recording

The song is an upfront rocker, with Richards, Jagger and

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a ...

sharing guitar duties. Piano and organ were provided by

Chuck Leavell Charles Alfred Leavell (born April 28, 1952) is an American musician. A member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout their commercial zenith in the 1970s, he subsequently became a founding member of the band Sea Level. He has served as the pri ...

, the Stones' touring keyboardist since the 1980s. Backing vocals are provided by Jagger, Richards,

Sarah Dash Sarah Dash (August 18, 1945 – September 20, 2021) was an American singer and actress. She first appeared on the music scene as a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles. Dash was later a member of Labelle, and worked as a singer, sess ...

Lisa Fischer Lisa Fischer (born December 1, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She found success with her 1991 debut album ''So Intense'', which produced the Grammy Award–winning hit single "How Can I Ease the Pain". She has been a back-up singer ...

, and Bernard Fowler, the latter two longtime touring vocalists for the Stones. Brass was provided by the Kick Horns while

Luis Jardim Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

provided percussion.

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...

handled drums while

Bill Wyman William George Wyman (né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who achieved international fame as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member ...

played bass.

Music video

To match the upbeat nature of the song, the music video featured the Stones, playful and smiling, performing the song as well as recording it. This stands in stark contrast to the band's previous video, 1986's " One Hit (to the Body)," filmed during a time when relations between Jagger and Richards were at an all-time low, and which featured uncomfortable physical sparring between the two.

Release

Released as the album's first single on 21 August 1989, "Mixed Emotions" made it into the top 10 in the US, going to number five, and was also a number-one hit on the

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart for five weeks and in Canada for one week. This is the Stones' last US top-ten single thus far, although they would go on to have more chart hits on the Album Rock Tracks (now Mainstream Rock) chart. The single's B-side was "Fancy Man Blues", a non-album track recorded during the ''Steel Wheels'' sessions. The song was heavily performed during the 1989-1990

Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour The Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels Tour was a concert tour which was launched in North America in August 1989 to promote the band's album '' Steel Wheels''; it continued to Japan in February 1990, with ten shows at the Tokyo Dome. The European leg ...

. It appears on all of the Stones' latter day compilations, '' Jump Back'', ''

Forty Licks ''Forty Licks'' is a double compilation album by the Rolling Stones. A 40-year career-spanning retrospective, ''Forty Licks'' is notable for being the first retrospective to combine their formative Decca/London era of the 1960s, now licensed b ...

'' and ''

GRRR! ''GRRR!'' is a greatest hits album by the Rolling Stones. Released on 12 November 2012, it commemorates the band's 50th anniversary. The album features two new songs titled "Doom and Gloom" and "One More Shot", which were recorded in August 2 ...

''. The 12-inch remix of "Mixed Emotions" by producer Chris Kimsey was rereleased on the '' Rarities 1971–2003'' compilation, in 2005, along with "Fancy Man Blues."

Track listing

# "Mixed Emotions" (7-inch version) – 4:00 # "Mixed Emotions" (Chris Kimsey's 12-inch) – 6:10 # "Fancy Man Blues" – 4:54

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Rolling Stones Mixed Emotions CBS 7655193 Holland
{{Authority control The Rolling Stones songs 1989 songs 1989 singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Chris Kimsey Song recordings produced by Jagger–Richards Songs written by Jagger–Richards