Mick Jagger

For other uses, see Jagger (disambiguation).

Mick Jagger

Sir Michael Phillip "Mick" Jagger (born July 26 1943) is an English rock musician, actor, songwriter, record and film producer and businessman. He is best known as the lead singer and one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones.

Early life

Jagger was born into a middle-class family at 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 (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, which according to Jagger 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 purchased it. The group, 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 took over as the effective leader of The Rolling Stones, as founder Brian Jones became more and more incapacitated by his spiralling drug use. Jones was fired from the band in June 1969 and accidentally drowned in his swimming pool only weeks later (though rumours persist that he was murdered).

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

File:Rstonestoday.jpg

The Rolling Stones of 2005

Often regarded as the greatest front man in the history of rock and roll, Jagger has a stage presence that is largely inimitable. 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. One feature that has become prevalent within the last decade is his tendency to prance from one end of the stage to other. Even in his sixties, Jagger can't seem to stand still on stage.

His interaction with and acknowledgement of 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 also 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.

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". 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."

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." 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.

Rumours 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 actually an urban legend, as "Sympathy for the Devil" was played four songs prior to the stabbing of Meredith Hunter; the Stones were actually playing "Under My Thumb" during Hunter's murder. 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", 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.

Private life and public image

Relationships

Mick Jagger has become well known over the years for his high profile relationships, such as that with singer/actress Marianne Faithfull in the mid-1960s. 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 Morena 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 well beyond 675 million dollars.

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".

Knighthood

At age 60, despite having spent most of his life an icon of rock rebelliousness, Mick Jagger was knighted on 12 December 2003, for his "services to popular music".

The lack of fuss over his knighthood marked a shift in British attitudes since 1965, when some outraged dignitaries returned their medals in protest after the Beatles were made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

Rolling Stone Keith Richards dissented and said: "I thought it was ludicrous to take one of those gongs from the establishment... it's not what the Stones is about, is it? I don't want to step out on stage with someone wearing a fucking coronet and sporting the old ermine. I told Mick, it's a fucking paltry honour." [1]

Jagger laughed off the criticism from Richards. "I think he would probably like to get the same honour himself", Jagger said. "It's like being given an ice cream — one gets one and they all want one. It's nothing new. Keith likes to make a fuss."

The announcement of Jagger's honour did elicit some angry letters to The Daily Telegraph. A Canadian woman whose husband, mother and grandfather all received honours wrote: "By giving a knighthood to a rogue like Mick Jagger, the prime minister has denigrated all the worthy recipients of honours from Her Majesty the Queen."

Jagger sported a designer suit with leather lapels and black suede and leather sneakers for the formal investiture. He denied that he had betrayed his unconventional past, which epitomised the "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" lifestyle.

"I don't think the establishment as we knew it exists any more", he told reporters. "Honours are very nice, as long as you don't take it all too seriously".

Jagger came to the ceremony with his 90-year-old father Joe — who decades earlier chided his son's passion for "jungle music" — and daughters Karis, 32, and Elizabeth, 19.

Jagger's father, Joe, died on 11 November 2006 after suffering from pneumonia. His death, at the age of 93, caused Mick Jagger to depart the second leg of the North American A Bigger Bang Tour for the funeral.

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 close encounters with UFOs. In an interview with BANG Showbiz, Luckman said that:

Mick Jagger has been very involved with the subject of UFOs for many years. In 1968, he went camping in Glastonbury with his then girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithfull, and encountered a rare, luminous cigar-shaped mothership. Around the same time Mick had a UFO detector installed at his British estate. The alarm kept on going off whenever he left home, indicating the presence of strong electromagnetic activity in the immediate area.

— Michael C. Luckman,

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.
• The British satire programme Spitting Image had a Mick Jagger puppet.
• Jagger has been portrayed by Phil Cornwell in Stella Street, and Luke de Woolfson in Stoned (2005).
• Jagger played a role in an episode of The Simpsons called "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" along with fellow Rolling Stone Keith Richards. They taught the camp members how to be rock stars.
• Gilda Radner, as Candy Slice in a Saturday Night Live sketch from February 1979, paid musical homage to Mick Jagger in a wild song entitled "Gimme Mick", admitting herself to be Jagger's "biggest funked-up fan".
• On the American TV drama "House MD", the main character, Dr. Gregory House states in the pilot episode: "As the philosopher Jagger once said, You can't always get what you want"
• During an episode of 'The Mighty Boosh', a British comedy series, Vince Noir is forced to swear on his Mick Jagger Shrine. He also imitates him in another episode.

Trivia

• Jagger is an avid cricket fan.
• He confessed before the Super Bowl XL Half Time Show that he had never really wanted to do it.
• 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".
• 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, 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.
• He has been linked to Lucy Liu, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen, Claudia Schiffer, Adriana Lima, Kate Moss, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit, Grace Jones, Angelina Jolie, Cindy Crawford, Britt Ekland, Brigitte Bardot, Ursula Andress, Tanya Roberts, Janice Dickinson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Madonna, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cameron Diaz, Salma Hayek, Penélope Cruz, Julia Roberts, Sophie Marceau, Uma Thurman and Diane Keaton.

Solo discography

Album Cover for Goddess in the Doorway

• 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]

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)

External links

• Official site
• Mick Jagger at IMDb
• The Rolling Stones – Mick Jagger
• Mick Jagger Joins a New ABC Sitcom
• "Pretty Spry (For an Old Guy)" Song parody
• 1983 Audio interview with Mick Jagger-discusses "Undercover" album Classic Rock Central
• Mick Jagger Halloween Pumpkin Carving

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