Mick Jagger likes to be in control

May 20, 2010, 6:01 GMT

Sir Mick Jagger hates taking drugs when performing because he doesn't feel in control.

The Rolling Stones legend admits he has experimented with illegal substances while on stage in the past but didn't enjoy the experience because of how they made him feel.

Speaking in an interview on CNN's 'Larry King Live', Jagger said: "I always think it's better to be not taking drugs or drinking or anything. That's not saying I've never done it because I have. But I sort of learned I think after a while there has been - it didn't take me that long to realise that it wasn't a good thing.

"You know, taking drugs on a recreational level is one thing. But taking them while you're working on a stage is, you know, I don't think it was that great.

"It's the control factor. And the thing about being on stage, you really want to feel that you're sort of in control a lot, I think, because I don't think you want - it's not a place where you want to be out of control."

Jagger recently said he believes the "orgies and drug taking" of the early 70s were a result of it being a creative time.

The 'Ruby Tuesday' singer - who is the focus of new documentary 'Stones in Exile' at the Cannes Film Festival - reveals details of the period in the film and admitted it was a period of excess.

He said: "The orgies, the drug taking? Yes I remember it well. It was lot of fun, quite a bumpy time but generally quite a creative period despite all the excesses. In those days that's how it was done - we got away with it."