Joss Stone Explains Joining Mick Jagger's Band SuperHeavy

When Fuse's Dan Brown caught up with UK vocal powerhouse Joss Stone, the 25-year-old soul singer touched on an eclectic variety of topics: Working with Mick Jagger, singing covers of songs she barely knew and kinda-sorta turning down an offer to be a mentor on the UK version of The Voice.... Basically, she talks about a bunch of fascinating things that makes us think her life is far more interesting than ours.

She Joined Jagger and Dave Stewart in SuperHeavy Before Damian Marley and A.R. Rahman

"Dave [Stewart] calls me up and says, 'You want to be part of my band?' And was like, 'Yeah, I've never been in a band, Dave. You want me to be part of your band?' He was like, 'Yeah, definitely, Mick and I are going to make a band.' And I was like, 'Hold on, Mick is in the band, too? Who else is in this band?' 'Well, we haven't decided yet but I'll give you a call in a couple weeks.' So a couple weeks later he calls and says they've got Damian Marley—which is amazing—and A.R. Rahman, who did the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack and was the softest, loveliest soul."

Kinda-Sorta Turning Down an Offer to Judge the British Version of The Voice

"I didn't really. Well, I did, but it was just an email thing. It wasn't, 'Joss please be on The Voice, we'll pay you millions of pounds. None of that. It was [an email] forward, just, 'Joss, you fancy doing that?' 'Nah,' and that was it. It was no big deal. Everyone, pipe down!" 

Why Her Face Isn't on the Cover of Her Debut Album The Soul Sessions

"I think Steve [Greenberg, the producer] didn't want people to know that I'm white, in truth. I think that's why he did the whole shield-in-front-of-my-face thing."

She Didn't Know Most of the Covers on Soul Sessions Vol. 2 Before Tackling Them

"I knew three or four beforehand but the rest of them I didn't know. I just pick them literally moments before singing them. That's my favorite way to make music. Spontaneous, off the cuff. It shouldn't take long [recording a cover]. It should only take a couple of hours.

Joss Stone Can't Read Sheet Music

"I wish I could read sheet music. I can't read any music. Luckily the musicians I work with understand what I'm jibbering on about. I can sing a melody and they'll make it into their own. These musicians are so good, why would you tell them exactly what to play? It seems disrespectful and stupid. So in a way I'm glad I'm a little bit of a dunce when it comes to musical terminology."

Stone Isn't Crazy About Her Voice on the First Soul Sessions

"I don’t like the old one because my voice is a little bit dodge on that, obviously because I had no idea how to sing. But I do like it as a piece. I know how to sing for sure now. "

For Joss Stone's full take on working with the Rolling Stones' Jagger, watch the video above. And to hear her compare her latest Soul Sessions LP to the one from 2003, watch the video below.