'Sir Michael Phillip "Mick" Jagger' (born
July 26,
1943) is an
English rock musician,
actor,
songwriter,
record and
film producer and
businessman. He is one of the world's most famous celebrities, best known as the frontman of the
British rock band
The Rolling Stones.
Early life
Jagger was born into a
middle-class family at the
Livingstone Hospital, East Hill,
Dartford,
Kent,
England. His father, Basil Fanshawe ("Joe") Jagger (
6 April,
1913 –
11 November,
2006), and his paternal grandfather, David Ernest Jagger, were both teachers; his mother, Eva Ensley Mary Scutts
[1] (
13 April 1913 –
18 May 2000), an
Australian immigrant to England, was an active member of the
Conservative Party. Jagger was the older of two sons and was raised to follow in his father's career path. According to Jagger in the book ''According to the Rolling Stones'', "I was always a singer. I always sang as a child. I was one of those kids who just ''liked'' to sing. Some kids sing in choirs; others like to show off in front of the mirror. I was in the church choir and I also loved listening to singers on the radio - the BBC or Radio Luxemburg - or watching them on TV and in the movies." Academically successful, he attended
Dartford Grammar School where he passed 3
A-levels, before entering the
London School of Economics on a
scholarship. He studied for a degree in accounting and finance, but attended for less than a year and did not graduate, leaving to pursue a musical career. School legend has it that Jagger was asked to leave the London School of Economics after an incident in which he rode a motorcycle inside the library.
His decision to drop out of university in 1962 in favour of music was not approved by his mother and was reluctantly accepted by his father. Jagger has stated in interviews he could not blame his parents for their mistrust of his choice; even he doubted a life-long career in music was possible. He had two bands in his early years, Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, which played "
skiffle" music; according to Jagger, this was "more like a coffee-house version of folk music."
As a student, Jagger frequented a London club called "the Firehouse". At the age of 19, Jagger began performing as a singer. Like
Keith Richards and other members of The Rolling Stones, Jagger had no formal musical training and did not know how to read music. He frequented clubs such as the famous
Marquee Club or
The Ealing Club, and admired the same type of blues musicians that
Brian Jones and Keith Richards favoured. "I had a number of friends who had their own record collections, so we used to go round to their houses and listen to them there... We played everything and anything - that's how you learn... It was all a bit like trainspotting," Jagger has said.
Elmore James was one of the band's early favourites, as well as anything from
Chess Records in
Chicago.
While Jagger knew Keith Richards as a schoolmate, the songwriters reunited when Richards saw Jagger with a blues record under his arm and asked him where he had purchased it. The two, combined with Jones,
Bill Wyman,
Ian Stewart, and
Charlie Watts, formed the Rolling Stones, basing their name on the
Muddy Waters tune "
Rollin' Stone." Stewart was dropped from the band for not fitting the image desired by manager
Andrew Loog Oldham, but still toured with the band as a pianist until his death in 1985. It was Oldham who insisted that Jagger call himself "Mick" rather than "Mike", a name he continued to use among friends; for example,
John Lennon calls him Michael in the 1968 film ''
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus''.
The Rolling Stones
Jagger was not an immediate success as lead singer of The Rolling Stones. By his own admission, he was a stiff and awkward school boy in front of an audience, but in the same way the Stones learned how to play and write songs – through imitating other artists – Jagger developed a stage presence. When the Stones began to play live gigs throughout England with other artists, such as
Ike and
Tina Turner, Jagger learned from other singers how to work an audience and quickly developed his own unique style. As his songwriting and recording career emerged, Richards became his main collaborator, which cemented a close friendship. Brian Jones became more of an isolated figure in the band, as he was unable to contribute to the songwriting process.
The London years
In 1967, Jagger and Richards were arrested and charged with drug possession after a highly-publicised raid on Richards' country house, during which it was alleged that singer
Marianne Faithfull was found naked except for a fur rug wrapped around her. The raid was later revealed to have been prompted by a tip-off to the London Drug Squad by journalists working for the ''
News of the World'', which at the time was running a series of lurid reports about the alleged use of illegal drugs by British pop stars.
In one of these reports, Jagger was alleged to have spent an evening at a London club in the company of a journalist, during which he openly discussed his drug-taking and invited others back to his flat "for a smoke". When the report was published, it became obvious that the hapless journalist had mistaken Brian Jones for Jagger – whereupon Jagger promptly sued the paper ''News of the World'' for
defamation.
However this legal action was stymied by his and Richards' subsequent arrest. The trial made front-page news around the world. Despite Jagger claiming that the pills allegedly found in his possession had been prescribed to him, both were found guilty.
The severity of the sentences handed down (imprisonment with hard labour) caused a major public outcry. It was also the subject of the famous editorial by
William Rees-Mogg, editor of ''
The Times'', titled "
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" In it, Rees-Mogg asserted that it was Jagger's and Richards' celebrity that made them targets and that their sentences for first offences were harsher than "any purely anonymous young man" would have received. Their convictions were overturned on appeal, and they subsequently were released, though the other person arrested with them, noted London art dealer
Robert Fraser, served six months.
It was during this period that Jagger and Richards took over as the effective leaders of The Rolling Stones, as founder Brian Jones became more and more incapacitated by his spiralling drug use and lack of songwriting ability. Jones was fired from the band in June 1969 and accidentally drowned in his swimming pool July 3rd (though rumours persist that he was murdered).
[2]
International success
After the band's acrimonious split with their second manager,
Allen B. Klein, Jagger took control of their business affairs and has managed them ever since in collaboration with his friend and colleague, Prince
Rupert Löwenstein. Decades after the band's creation, The Rolling Stones continue to perform and to court controversy. The release of their 2005 album ''
A Bigger Bang'' included the song "Sweet Neo Con" in which Jagger's lyrics openly attack the presidency of
George W. Bush. In February 2006, they appeared during the
Super Bowl broadcast, and Jagger was asked to omit words that had sexual connotations from two songs which would be heard by a vast family audience. He did not comply with this request, but his microphone was momentarily dipped. The Stones went on to make their first visit to
Puerto Rico, playing to a sell-out audience of 20,000 at the new
Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum. Tickets to the concert were being sold for up to $1,000, more than twice the top published price of $460. On
8 April 2006, the Stones performed in
Shanghai, their first ever show in mainland
China. Jagger has also signed on to appear regularly as himself in a television sitcom based on the theme of a small group of inept thieves who want to rob him. The sitcom's working title was ''Let's Rob Mick Jagger'' but was later renamed ''
The Knights of Prosperity''; on
January 3,
2007 Jagger guest starred in the premiere episode.
Stage presence and mannerisms
Often regarded as one of the greatest front man in the history of rock and roll, Jagger posseses an inimitable stage presence. A tireless performer, he frequently runs and skips across the stage while singing. From the late sixties through the mid-seventies he often appeared to be possessed by the music. In the last decade he's grown more likely to prance than run, but even in his sixties, Jagger can't seem to stand still.
His interaction with the other members of The Rolling Stones is usually limited. However, he occasionally gets
Keith Richards and
Ronnie Wood into playful
headlocks. Direct interaction with individual audience members is usually limited to the occasional
high five when he passes from the b-stage to the main stage and visa versa.
During concerts, items such as clothing that are thrown onto the stage by members of the audience are usually kicked off. He frequently changes his upper body clothing during concerts, but usually keeps the same
trousers on throughout the show.
He usually talks to audiences in their native language, including
Japanese,
French,
Spanish,
Portuguese,
Irish Gaelic,
German, and
Swedish.
Criticism and controversy
Jagger has come under fire throughout most his career, but the majority has come from music industry insiders and fans, as opposed to opponents of rock and roll.
The most damning contention is related to the Stones'
Altamont Free Concert at
Altamont Speedway in
California. By some accounts, the
Hells Angels were hired to be security by the Rolling Stones on recommendation from the
Grateful Dead for $500 and free beer, a story Dick Carter, the speedway owner and
Ralph 'Sonny' Barger Angels' Oakland chapter head both vehemently denied. According to Stones' road manager Sam Cutler, "the only agreement there ever was...the Angels would make sure nobody fucked with the generators, but that was the extent of it. But there was no 'They're going to be the police force' or anything like that. That's all bollocks."
[3] Whatever the case, the presence of the Angels became extremely controversial as they injured several fans, killing one –
Meredith Hunter, an eighteen-year-old black man. It was also suggested that the Angels supplied drugs at the concert.
Rumour held that the Stones, and Jagger in particular, not only did not try to stop the violence, but encouraged it by singing "
Sympathy for the Devil" while Hunter died. This is strictly an
urban legend, as "Sympathy for the Devil" was played four songs prior to the stabbing of
Meredith Hunter; the Stones were playing "
Under My Thumb" when Hunter was killed. Nevertheless, due to media pressure, they dropped "Sympathy for the Devil" from most of their 1970s US live set lists. Other unfounded rumours circulated that Jagger, despite his
blues-based band and songs such as "
Brown Sugar" and "
Sweet Black Angel" (the latter being a tribute to
Black Panther Party activist
Angela Davis), was racist and did not want a black fan at his concert. However, concert tapes clearly show Jagger trying to calm the audience and end the violence; he has also been a vocal anti-racist.
Acting and film production
Jagger also has an acting career, most notably in
Nicolas Roeg's ''
Performance'' (1968) and as Australian
bushranger ''
Ned Kelly'' (1970). In the early 1980s, Jagger was cast as a main character in
Werner Herzog's ''
Fitzcarraldo'', however numerous delays in the film's notoriously difficult production resulted in him being unable to continue due to schedule conflicts with a band tour; some of the footage of his work is shown in the documentary ''
Burden of Dreams''. More recently he appeared as a persistent heavy in ''
Freejack'' (1992) and in art films such as ''
Bent'' (1997) and ''
The Man From Elysian Fields'' (2002).
In 1995, Mick Jagger founded Jagged Films with Victoria Pearman, "to start my own projects instead of just going in other people's and being involved peripherally or doing music".
[4] Its first release was the
World War II drama ''
Enigma'' in 2001.
In late February, 2007
Paramount Pictures announced that Jagger will be teaming up with Academy-Award-winning director
Martin Scorsese to co-Produce a new film titled "The Long Player."
Private life and public image
Relationships
Mick Jagger has become well known over the years for his high profile relationships, such as that with Chrissie Shrimpton from 1963 to 1966 or with
Marianne Faithfull from 1966 to 1970. He has seven children by four different women, and has been the subject of many scandals over the years.
Mick Jagger's first child was born when he was 27. The mother, fellow singer
Marsha Hunt, gave birth to daughter
Karis Jagger on
4 November 1970. The couple were not married and did not remain together for long after the birth as Jagger became acquainted with activist
Bianca Perez-Mora de Macias.
In May 1971, Jagger married de Macias, later known as
Bianca Jagger. Bianca, born in
Managua,
Nicaragua, in 1945, was a social and political activist who had studied
Political Science and
French Literature, and was virtually unknown before her marriage to Jagger. Later that same year, Bianca gave birth to her first child and Jagger's second.
Jade Jagger, born on
21 October 1971, lived with her parents in France and
London. With Bianca, Jagger entered the world of high international celebrity, as evidenced by the
jet set hangers-on to their
1972 American Tour and afterwards. They were regulars among the high-flyers that frequented Studio 54, the then red hot disco in Manhattan. Mick and Bianca separated in 1979 and divorced in 1980.
After he separated from Bianca Jagger, Jagger became involved with
English-
American supermodel Jerry Hall in the late 1970s. Jerry Hall was rumoured to be the 'other woman' who broke up the marriage between Mick and Bianca while she was engaged to Bryan Ferry at the time. Hall became Jagger's companion and Ferry wrote the song "Cry, Cry, Cry" about her. In 1984, Hall gave birth to the couple's first child,
Elizabeth Scarlett Jagger. Elizabeth was born on
2 March 1984, in London and became known as 'Lizzy'. Hall had appeared on several of his album covers, and they had planned to marry. Partners Hall and Jagger then had their second child together, James Leroy Augustin Jagger in 1985. It was also this year that Jagger famously claimed that marrying Hall would give him 'claustrophobia'. However, despite this claim the two were married in 1990 while holidaying in
Bali. This marriage has since been disputed since it was not properly conducted and may not have been legally valid. Nevertheless, Jagger and Hall soon after had a third child together,
Georgia May Ayeesha Jagger. Their youngest child, son Gabriel Luke Beauregard was born in 1997. Jerry Hall separated from Mick Jagger in 1999 after model
Luciana Gimenez claimed she was pregnant with Jagger's child. She further filed for divorce when a
DNA test proved this to be true. It had been rumoured an affair took place between the two earlier although nothing had come of it. Luciana and Jagger's son Lucas Jagger was born in 1999.
While attempting to divorce Mick Jagger, it was found that Jerry Hall had never actually been married to Jagger at all. Their Hindu wedding on a beach in Bali was, in fact, not recognised under English Law, therefore eliminating the possibility of divorce. Instead Hall had the marriage annulled in 1999, officially ending the 22-year partnership. To this day, Hall has maintained Mick Jagger is a good father and friend of hers. She has claimed he owns a flat next door and that they get along better than ever before. After their divorce, Jagger did not continue a relationship with Gimenez, but he did continue to support her and see his son. She lives with her son in
New York and
Brazil.
In more recent years, Jagger has been touring the world and producing albums, both solo and with The Rolling Stones. However, in 2005, he arrived at the
Grammy Awards with fashion stylist
L'Wren Scott and called her his "main point of interest". She has been seen on his current
A Bigger Bang Tour and lives in
Hollywood.
He is one of the world's richest musicians with a fortune of approximately
£215 million.
[5]
You're So Vain
Jagger was reportedly romantically involved with singer and songwriter
Carly Simon at some point in the late 1960s. In 1973, she wrote and recorded the number one hit ''
You're So Vain'' about a prior boyfriend whom she claimed was "so vain/I betcha think this song is about you". Since Simon was newly married, many suspected it was about either
Warren Beatty,
Cat Stevens,
Kris Kristofferson or Mick Jagger, who sang harmony on the song. Jagger has never commented on the rumour, nor has Simon ever put it to rest. She has denied it being all four on different occasions but also hinted at it being Beatty and Jagger. It was assumed the song was not about Jagger when Carly Simon joined
Janet Jackson in 2000 for a remix of the song called "Son of a Gun," which sampled "You're So Vain". In the song, Simon says "The apricot scarf was worn by Nick/there's nothing in the words that refer to Mick".
Religion
Mick Jagger has sung about religious concepts over the years with The Rolling Stones ("
Sympathy for the Devil", "Blinded by Rainbows", "Saint of Me") and in solo projects. For example, his ''Wandering Spirit'' and ''Goddess in the Doorway'' albums carry this theme. In 1999, Jagger joined the
Kabbalah religion and Hollywood Centre with wife Jerry Hall. The mystic Jewish sect was so popular with the Jaggers that they held an evening to promote the church, which
Ron Wood,
Bill Wyman and
Rav Berg attended.
In Jagger's song "Joy" on ''Goddess in the Doorway'', Jagger proclaims "I was looking for the
buddha when I found
Jesus Christ." The song is a duet with
U2's
Bono.
Jagger and Hall later lost interest in the church.
Jerry Hall proclaimed in a 2004 interview, "We couldn't go through the door of miracles unless we gave them 10 percent of our money." Jagger's father, Joe, was buried as a Roman Catholic. It has also been stated that Mick was brought up as a Roman Catholic.
UFO
In his book ''Alien Rock: The Rock 'n' Roll Extraterrestrial Connection'', Michael C. Luckman wrote that Mick Jagger and
Keith Richards claimed to had experienced with
UFOs.
[6]
In an interview with BANG Showbiz, Luckman said that:
Appearances in popular culture
★ In 1972, a new fossil
snail was named ''Anomphalus jaggerius'' in honour of Jagger. Similarly, in 1995, a new fossil
trilobite species in the genus ''Aegrotocatellus'',
Latin for ''sick puppy'', was given the name ''Aegrotocatellus jaggeri''.
★ The influential artist
Andy Warhol immortalized Jagger in a series of color screen prints that are still highly-valued in 2007. Warhol designed the cover of the band's "
Sticky Fingers" album.
Trivia
★ Jagger is an avid
cricket fan.
★ Jagger is reported to be related to
Joseph Jagger, the engineer who in 1875 used his knowledge of the quirks of the
roulette wheels at a
Monte Carlo casino to win the equivalent of over $4 million and fame as "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo".
[7]
★ His height is reportedly 5'10" (1.78 m)
★ In the late seventies he, like other famous musicians such as David Bowie and Liberace, guest starred several times on "Lives...of the curious."
★ Jagger is renowned for his prominent lips, a feature which The Rolling Stones have frequently used on artwork and promotional material.
★ In 1995, Jagger was elected Honorary President of the students union of the college he dropped out of, the
LSE Students Union, narrowly beating a joint nomination for
Yitzhak Rabin and
Yasser Arafat with
Mother Teresa in third position. When presented with the title he was informed that he had an "open offer to continue his degree in Accounting and Finance" at any point, which he declined.
★ Jagger starred in an early version of
Werner Herzog's ''
Fitzcarraldo'' as the title character's assistant, but when Herzog decided to reshoot the movie with
Klaus Kinski as Fitzcarraldo, Jagger's character was cut.
★ Discovered the rock band
Living Colour, after catching the band perform at
CBGB's. Jagger would later produce several tracks on their debut album,
Vivid, provide backing vocals on the single
Glamour Boys, and invite the band to open the U.S. leg of the Stones'
Steel Wheels tour in 1989.
★ Has been portrayed by the British painter Francis Bacon in a set of paintings.
Solo discography
★ ''
She's the Boss'' (
25 February 1985) UK #6 [11 wks]; US #13 [29 wks]
★ ''
Primitive Cool'' (
14 September 1987) UK #26 [5 wks]; US #41 [20 wks]
★ ''
Wandering Spirit'' (
8 February 1993) UK #12 [4 wks]; US #11 [16 wks]
★ ''
Goddess in the Doorway'' (
19 November 2001) UK #44 [4 wks]; US #39 [8 wks]
★ ''
The Very Best of Mick Jagger'' (
1 October 2007)
Soundtracks
★ ''
Alfie'' (
18 October 2004) US #171 [2 wks]
★ ''
Ruthless People'' (1987) U.S. #2
★ ''
Bent'' (1997) (sings "Streets of Berlin" co-written with
Philip Glass)
Singles
★ "Memo from Turner" (November 1970) #32 UK
★ "Don't Look Back" (September 1978) #43 UK; #81 US (with
Peter Tosh)
★ "State of Shock" (June 1984) #14 UK; #3 US (Jacksons & Mick Jagger)
★ "Just Another Night" (February 1985) #32 UK; #12 US [US Mainstream Rock #1]
★ "Lucky in Love" (April 1985) #91 UK; #38 US [US Mainstream Rock #5]
★ "Lonely at the Top" (April 1985) [US Mainstream Rock #9]
★ "
Dancing in the Street" (with
David Bowie) (August 1985) #1 UK; #7 US [US Mainstream Rock #3]
★ "Ruthless People" (July 1986) #51 US [US Mainstream Rock #14]
★ "Let's Work" (September 1987) #31 UK; #39 US [US Mainstream Rock #7]
★ "Throwaway" (November 1987) #67 US [US Mainstream Rock #7]
★ "Say You Will" (December 1987) [US Mainstream Rock #39]
★ "Sweet Thing" (January 1993) #24 UK; #84 US [US Mainstream Rock #34]
★ "Wired All Night" (March 1993) [US Mainstream Rock #3]
★ "Don't Tear Me Up" (April 1993) #86 UK [US Mainstream Rock #1]
★ "God Gave Me Everything" (October 2001) [US Mainstream Rock #24]
★ "Visions of Paradise" (March 2002) #43 UK
★ "Old Habits Die Hard" (October 2004) (Mick Jagger & Dave Stewart) #45 UK
Filmography
Jagger has appeared in the following movies:
★ ''
Performance'' (1968)
★ ''
Ned Kelly'' (1970)
★ ''Umano non umano'' (1972)
★ ''Wings of Ash'' (1978) – pilot for a dramatisation of the life of
Antonin Artaud
★ ''Running Out of Luck'' (1987)
★ ''
Freejack'' (1992)
★ ''
Bent'' (1997)
★
''Mein liebster Feind'' (aka ''My Best Fiend'') (1999)
★ ''
Enigma'' (2001) – cameo only, plus
co-producer
★ ''
The Man From Elysian Fields'' (2001)
★ ''
Mayor of the Sunset Strip'' (2003)
Footnotes
1. http://www.wargs.com/other/jagger.html
2. ''Stoned'', a fictionalised biopic of Jones which attributes his death to murder.
3. McNally, Dennis. ''A Long Strange Trip: the Inside History of the Grateful Dead'' (First Edition), 2002. ISBN 0-7679-1185-7, p. 344
4. Harlan Jacobson (2001). "The Enigma of Mick Jagger". Talk Cinema.
5. BBC News Online
6. ALIEN ROCK : THE ROCK 'N' ROLL EXTRATERRESTRIAL CONNECTION by Michael C. Luckman
7. Matthew Beard (25 March 2006). "Johann Sebastian Jagger - the classical inspiration behind the Rolling Stones". The Independent Online.
External links
★
Official site
★
★
The Rolling Stones – Mick Jagger
★
Mick Jagger Joins a New ABC Sitcom
★
1983 Audio interview with Mick Jagger-discusses "Undercover" album Classic Rock Central
★
An interview with Charlie Rose in 2002.
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