Mick Jagger auctions online artwork in aid of grassroots music venues

Sir Mick Jagger is selling a digital artwork inspired by his new song in a bid to raise money for independent venues hard hit by the pandemic.

The track, called Eazy Sleazy, was written by The Rolling Stones singer during lockdown and features him on vocals and guitar in collaboration with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, guitar and bass.

Now the 77-year-old rocker is launching an audio-visual artwork as a non-fungible token (NFT), which have been hailed as a way to sell digital artwork and assets, as part of a special auction.

NFTs employ technology similar to blockchains, such as bitcoin, but are unique, one-off assets that are easy to sell or trade but cannot be copied.

Sir Mick and Grohl have collaborated with 3D artist Oliver Latta, known as Extraweg, to produce an audio-visual loop of the song showing colourful human figures bursting through giant faces at high speed.

The auction is taking place via the Nifty Gateway platform and will run until 6pm on Friday April 16.

Money raised will be split between the Music Venue Trust which supports grassroots venues, Back Up, which provides financial support to entertainment technology industry professionals who are seriously ill or injured, and the National Independent Venue Association in the US.

A portion will also go to environmental causes.

Eazy Sleazy, which was released on Tuesday, contains tongue-in-cheek references to coronavirus conspiracy theories, infection figures and lockdown weight gain against the backdrop of punk rock guitars.