Tariq Ali on John Lennon and Mick Jagger
Tariq Ali, the legendary leftist writer, editor, and filmmaker, recalls his time with John Lennon and Mick Jagger at the height of the 1960s upheavals.
John Lennon (1940-1980) of English rock and pop group the Beatles plays his guitar on stage in London on July 11, 1964. (David Redfern / Redferns)
When longtime leftist writer, filmmaker, and New Left Review editor Tariq Ali visited the offices of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung in São Paulo in 2017, he sat down for a conversation drawn in part on his memoir of the upheavals of the 1960s, Street Fighting Years, rereleased by Verso Books in 2018 for the fiftieth anniversary of 1968.
On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of John Lennon’s murder earlier this month, we republish that conversation here. It has been edited for clarity.
Gerhard Dilger
Tell us about your relationship with John Lennon.
Tariq Ali
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