LONDON • He "can't get no satisfaction"? Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has rubbished such newspaper headlines, riffing off the band's 1965 hit, saying he loves singer Mick Jagger "99 per cent of the time".

"Mick knows what I mean and he'll say the same about me. Things happen between Mick and me because it's just two guys working together. You only hear about the odd bust-up," NME portal cited him as saying about their decades-old link.

The 75-year-old showed his concern last Saturday when news came that doctors had ordered Jagger to rest, putting a stop to a North American tour that was slated to start on April 20 in Florida.

"A big disappointment for everyone but things need to be taken care of and we'll see you soon," tweeted Richards. "Mick, we are always there for you."

Jagger, 75, posted his apologies to fans: "I really hate letting you down like this... but I will be working very hard to be back on stage as soon as I can." According to a statement from the band, the doctors said he would make a "complete recovery".

Richards, in the NME story, said he became less abrasive with Jagger after he rolled out his solo album Talk Is Cheap 30 years ago.

"It was my first time fronting the whole thing. Usually, this is Mick's job and, suddenly, I understood a lot more about the dynamics of being a frontman. I understood the pressure. My feelings towards Mick became, 'Yeah, I get it, man.'"

But Richards still gets on the nerves of Jagger every now and then. Last year, the guitarist publicly apologised after he joked that the singer should go for a vasectomy after he became a father again, for the eighth time.