U2 Drops Jagger Vocals

October 24, 2000 -- U2 has decided to nix a version of a song featuring backing vocals by Mick Jagger and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, from its forthcoming album, All That You Can't Leave Behind.

The Jaggers wound up lending their pipes to the ballad "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" after they dropped by to visit the Irish rock act in a Dublin recording studio. But guitarist The Edge says the song eventually "took a different direction," and the band opted to go with an alternate, Mick-free rendition.

The band is sending a copy of the original mix to the rock star and his daughter (who sang backing vocals on select dates of the Rolling Stones' '97-'99 tour), though, and thanked them in the liner notes to the album, due in U.S. stores on Oct. 31.

The Edge stressed that the band was grateful for the duo's contributions. "They came in, we played them some stuff. It was nice to hear it through their ears," he said. "So we just wanted to say thanks to them for their generosity, really, just coming in and giving us their opinion on how it was going."

But the band expressed harsher sentiments for a younger generation of pop musicians on Monday. During the taping of a British radio set, singer Bono blasted record labels for "ignoring real talent in favor of pretty young things" — echoing similar sentiments recently expressed by George Michael, Elton John, and Blur — according to U.K. tabloid The Sun.

"People are sick to the teeth of processed and hyped pop bands," he continued. "It's crap. They want something real again, and that's where we come in. The tide is turning."

U2's new single, "Beautiful Day," recently entered the British charts at No. 1.

Reuters contributed to this report.