Mick JaggerBenedict Gombocz

Overview

• Born Michael Phillip Jagger in Dartford, England on July 26, 1943, Mick Jagger, the lead singer of the Rolling Stones, has been known as a popular and respected rock legend who has delighted his fans for over four decades.

• After he discontinued his studies at the London School of Economics to start a rock ‘n roll band with his childhood friend Keith Richards, Jagger played a major role in taking the Rolling Stones to immense popularity, which put the band and himself to a status not known to many performers.

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger opening mail

Early Musical Influences

• Singer, songwriter, actor, and producer Michael Phillip Jagger was born in Dartford, England on July 26, 1943.

• Jagger, as the lead singer of the Rolling Stones, acquired the positive image of a rock legend known for his courageous, blues-influenced songs and for his appealing presence on stage.

• For more than four decades, Jagger has been very popular as a musician, and he remains so to this day.

• The oldest son of a teacher and a homemaker, Jagger was a good student and liked by his classmates.

• He acquired an early interest in American blues and Rhythm and Blues music; in 1957, when he was fourteen, he got his first guitar.

• As a teenager, he started a collection of blues records from his favorite blues artists, such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.

• Jagger and his friend Dick Taylor subsequently started their own band together, Little Boy Blue and the Blues Boys, and Jagger was its lead singer.

Mick Jagger as a child

Mick Jagger’s childhood home in Dartford

Early Musical Influences (cont.)

• Jagger was accepted to the London School of Economics in 1960.

• During his brief time there (he quit his studies by 1963), he lived at home and commuted between Dartford and London to attend his classes.

• After he discontinued his studies to focus on his band, Jagger soon added a new member, guitarist Keith Richards; the two were childhood friends, and grew up in Dartford together in the early 1950s, even though they did not meet again until 1961.

• When they remet at a railway station in Kent in October 1961, they recognized each other because both went to Wentworth Primary School before Jagger went on to Dartford Grammar; the location where they remet was marked with a blue plaque in February 2015.

• While exploring London’s developing blues scene together, Jagger and Richards spent some of their time at the Ealing Club, where they saw Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated perform and were wowed by guitarist Brian Jones, who made guest appearances with that band.

• Eventually, Jagger likewise appeared as a guest singer with Blues Incorporated.

Jagger in 1960

London School of Economics

Blue plaque commemorating the day Jagger and Richards remet in October 1961

Founding of the Rolling Stones

• Jagger, Richards, and Taylor soon teamed with Jones, who wanted to start his own band.

• Pianist Ian Stewart was likewise an early member of what would become the Rolling Stones.

• In early 1963, Charlie Watts completed the line up when he joined as the drummer, while Taylor left; he was replaced by Bill Wyman.

• Stewart, however, remained with the new band to serve as its road manager, and also to play and record with them.

• Under the supervision of their manager Andrew Loog Oldham, the Rolling Stones marketed themselves as a band of wild and rough rockers, which contrasted them from the Beatles.

• The band’s wild style helped them find a deal with Decca Records.

• Jagger was instrumental in the group’s success and rise to popularity by 1965, and drew audiences with his stage performances and sex appeal; in an interview in the 1966 film Charlie Is My Darling, Jagger said, “On stage, I suppose there is a sexual thing between the audience and the group. As far as lyrics go, sex doesn’t play as important part as is generally believed”.

• Earlier in the same film, Jagger stated that “You’re not the same person on stage as you are the rest of the time”.

The completed line up (left to right: Jagger, Watts, Richards, Jones, Wyman)

Founding of the Rolling Stones (cont.)

• The band originally recorded cover versions of the songs of other artists; Chuck Berry’s “Come On” was their first single, released in June 1963.

• Jagger and Richards soon emerged as an influential songwriting pair.

• Sometimes, they used the pseudonym Nanker Phelge, which was credited to any band collaborations between 1963 and 1965.

• In 1964, the Rolling Stones first made it to the UK charts with a cover version of Bobby and Shirley Womack’s “It’s All Over Now”; the same year, the band toured the U.S. during the British Invasion, during which they released their first American single, “That Girls Belongs to Yesterday”.

• Also in 1964, the group released its debut album, titled The Rolling Stones, in April in the UK and in May in the U.S. (the American version is subtitled England’s Newest Hit Makers).

• A number of hit singles followed, like “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” in 1965 and “Paint It Black” in 1966; both topped the charts.

The Rolling Stones play “Not Fade Away” during the British Invasion, 1964

The Rolling Stones’ debut album

British version (released 16 April 1964) American version (released 30 May 1964)

Tragedy Strikes

• Jagger's personal life made headlines in 1967.

• The summer of that year, he and his girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithfull, were among those arrested during a police search of Keith Richards’ country home in England.

• During the raid, police officers found drug paraphernalia and illegal substances.

• Both Jagger and Richards were subsequently tried and convicted of drug-related offenses, but their sentences were dropped on demand.

• Jagger and Faithfull were arrested for drug possession two years later, after authorities searched Jagger's London home.

• By the end of the 60s, the Rolling Stones enjoyed significant success.

• In December 1968, Beggars Banquet, which featured a forthright rock style, was released; earlier the same year, non-album single “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, which would be released as an album single on Through the Past Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) in September 1969, hit the No. 1 spot on the British charts.

Jagger and Richards leave Chichester Magistrates Court in West Sussex and are greeted by their fans, March 1, 1967

Beggars Banquet, the Rolling Stones’ only 1968 release

Tragedy Strikes (cont.)

• By the summer of 1969, the Rolling Stones dealt with several big changes.

• Brian Jones left the band in June following his many drug arrests that kept him from leaving the country for the group's American tour; he was replaced by twenty-year-old guitarist Mick Taylor, who would play with the band until 1974 (the year after his departure, he was replaced by Ronnie Wood, who has since been a member).

• Less than a month later, Jones committed suicide.

• The coronor's report concluded that Jones was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of his death, and ruled his passing as "death by misadventure."

• In response to Jones' ill-timed death, the Rolling Stones performed a free concert in Hyde Park on July 5, 1969, two days after Jones died.

• The concert, initially planned as an opportunity to introduce their new guitarist, was dedicated to Jones.

The swimming pool at Cotchford Farm, East Sussex, where Brian Jones took his own life

Tragedy Strikes (cont.)

• Before the concert began, Jagger read portions from Percy Shelley's "Adonais," a poem about the passing of a friend.

• Stagehands released hundreds of white butterflies as part of the homage, and the Stones played one of Jones' favorite songs, "I'm Yours And I'm Hers.”

• In December, disaster struck again when the band released their highly awaited Let It Bleed album.

• To endorse the record, the Stones organized a free concert at Altamont Speedway in northern California for that December.

• While they were playing "Under My Thumb”, a young man in the audience, Meredith Hunter, was stabbed and killed by a member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang, who were hired as security for the concert.

• The disastrous event was captured on film, and included in the documentary Gimme Shelter.

Jagger reads portions from “Adonais”

Hyde Park Concert, July 1969

Branching out

• Outside of music, Jagger was branching out as an actor.

• In the film Ned Kelly (1970), he played the title character, a famous criminal with the same name.

• In Performance (1970), Jagger played Turner, a secluded rock star.

• However, neither film impressed movie audiences.

Jagger in Ned Kelly (1970)

Jagger with Anita Pallenberg, Keith Richards’ then-girlfriend, on the set of Performance

Branching out (cont.)

• While he had little success with film, Jagger remained an admired rock star.

• Throughout the 1970s, the Rolling Stones released several hit albums: Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), and Some Girls (1978).

• By the mid-1980s, relations between Jagger and Richards were strained.

• Jagger focused part of his time on a solo career with mixed results; after the Rolling Stones released Dirty Work in 1986, relations between Jagger and Richards worsened after Jagger opted out of touring the album in favor of starting work on his second solo album (see below).

• His first solo album, 1985's She's the Boss, sold well enough to go platinum, but his second solo album Primitive Cool (1987) did not interest music purchasers; it only reached No. 26 in the UK and No. 41 in the U.S.

• Jagger only promoted the latter album with tours in Japan and Australia; he chose not to tour in the U.S. or the UK.

Some Girls tour, 1978

Still Life tour, 1981

She’s the Boss (1985) and Primitive Cool (1987)

She’s the Boss (released 19 February 1985) Primitive Cool (released 14 September 1987)

Branching out (cont.)

• The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

• Jagger and Richards, who by now put aside their differences, decided to work together again; as a result of their efforts, the group released Steel Wheels in August.

• Steel Wheels reached the No. 3 spot on the American album charts; to support the record, the Rolling Stones launched the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour.

• After the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour, Jagger attempted a third solo record, 1993's Wandering Spirit; it was met with moderate enthusiasm.

• The following year, he did much better with the Rolling Stones’ latest effort Voodoo Lounge (1994).

• Critics gave the record strong marks, and it even won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.

The Rolling Stones performing in Barcelona, 1990

Voodoo Lounge tour, New York City, 1994

Branching out (cont.)

• In between recording Bridges to Babylon (1997) and A Bigger Bang (2005) with his band, Jagger again sought to establish himself as a solo artist with Goddess in the Doorway (2001).

• He also developed a career for himself as a film producer, and worked on such projects as The Women (2008) and the upcoming animated work Ruby Tuesday.

• Once seen as a defiant rocker, Jagger was the subject of decorum when he was knighted in December 2003 for his contribution to music, which was met with mixed reactions from his fans, some of whom were disappointed that he accepted the honor as it appeared to oppose his anti-establishment views.

• His knighthood also led to some tension between him and Keith Richards, who was displeased when Jagger, the only member of the Rolling Stones to be knighted, accepted what Richards saw as the “paltry honour”.

• Richards also said that he did not want to perform with someone with a “coronet and sporting the old ermine. It's not what the Stones is about, is it?”, to which Jagger replied: “I think he would probably like to get the same honour himself. It's like being given an ice cream—one gets one and they all want one.”

Jagger with his father Basil and daughters Karis and Elizabeth during his knighting ceremony, Friday, 12 December 2003

Launch of the Licks Tour, Tuesday, 7 May 2002

Jagger with Bill Clinton at the 2010 World Cup

Personal Life

• Jagger is the father of seven children.

• He has a daughter named Karis Hunt Jagger (born November 4, 1970) with actress Marsha Hunt; Jagger became involved with Bianca Pérez-Mora Macias at this time.

• Jagger and Pérez-Mora Macias were married from 1971 to 1978; during their seven-year marriage, they welcomed a daughter, Jade Sheena Jezebel, on October 21, 1971.

• In 1990, Jagger married then-model and actress Jerry Hall, with whom he had four children: sons James Leroy Augustin (born August 28, 1985) and Gabriel Luke Beauregard (born December 13, 1997) and daughters Elizabeth Scarlett (born March 2, 1984) and Georgia May Ayeesha (born January 12, 1992).

• Their marriage ended only nine years later when Hall found out that Jagger was having an affair with Luciana Gimenez Morad, also a model.

• Following an initial disagreement about fatherhood, Jagger was allowed custody of Morad’s son, Lucas Maurice Morad, who was born on May 18, 1999.

• His divorce from Jerry Hall is speculated to be the subject of the eighth track from A Bigger Bang, “Biggest Mistake”.

• Jagger more recently was romantically linked to designer L'Wren Scott, who started a fashion brand in 2006; she and Jagger had been dating since 2001.

• In March 2014, it was reported that Scott was found dead in her apartment in Chelsea, Manhattan, at the age of forty-nine, from an apparent suicide.

• According to reports, Scott hanged herself; at the time of her death, Jagger and his bandmates were on tour in Australia.

• When he learned of her suicide, Jagger wrote on his website and on his official Facebook page: “I am still struggling to understand how my lover and best friend could end her life in this tragic way. We spent many wonderful years together and had made a great life for ourselves. She had great presence and her talent was much admired, not least by me. I have been touched by the tributes that people have paid to her, and also the personal messages of support that I have received. I will never forget her.”

Bibliography

Other sites

• Mick Jagger’s official website: http://www.mickjagger.com/

• Official website of the Rolling Stones: www.rollingstones.com

• http://www.biography.com/people/mick-jagger-9351966

• http://www.nme.com/news/the-rolling-stones/74443

• Charlie Is My Darling (2012 DVD release)