Singer, songwriter, actor, producer.Born Michael Phillip Jagger on July 26, 1943, in Dartford, England. As the lead singer of the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger has become a rock legend for his gritty, blues-influenced songs and for his charismatic stage presence. He has been delighting fans for more than four decades.
The oldest son of a teacher and a homemaker, Jagger was a good student and popular among his classmates. He developed an interest in American blues and R&B music at an early age and got his first guitar at 14. As a teenager, Jagger started collecting blues records from the likes of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. He and his friend Dick Taylor soon started a band together called Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys with Jagger as its singer.
In 1960, Jagger was accepted to the London School of Economics. He lived at home and commuted into the city to attend classes. Also working on his band, Jagger soon added a new member, guitaristKeith Richards. The two had known each other growing up in Dartford. Exploring London's emerging blues scene together, Jagger and Richards spent some time at the Ealing Club. There they saw Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated play and were wowed by guitarist Brian Jones who made guest appearances with the group. After a while, Jagger also appeared as a guest vocalist with Blues Incorporated as well.
Jagger, Richards, and Taylor soon joined up with Jones who wanted to start his own group. Pianist Ian Stewart was also an early member of what would become the Rolling Stones. By 1963, Charlie Watts joined as its drummer and Taylor departed. Stewart, however, stayed on to serve as the band's road manager, as well as to play and record with them. Taylor was replaced by Bill Wyman. Under the direction of their manager Andrew Loog Oldham, the Rolling Stones were marketed as a group of wild and rough rockers. The group's wild style helped land them a deal with Decca Records. Jagger was a key ingredient in the band's growing success, attracting audiences with his stage antics and his sex appeal.
At first, the band mostly recorded cover versions of other people's songs, but Richards and Jagger soon emerged as a powerful songwriting duo-occasionally using the pseudonym "NankerPhelge" for some of their early work. The Rolling Stones first made the British charts in 1964 with a cover version of Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now." That same year, the band toured the United States and had their first American hit with "That Girl Belongs to Yesterday." More hits soon followed, including the chart-topping "Satisfaction"and "Paint It Black."
In 1967, Jagger's personal life made headlines. He and his girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithfull, were among those arrested during a police raid ofKeith Richards's country home in England. During their search, police officers found drug paraphernalia and illegal substances. Both Jagger and Richards were tried and convicted for drug-related offenses, but their sentences were dropped on appeal. Two years later, Jagger and Faithfull were arrested for drug possession after authorities raided Jagger's London home.
By the end of the decade, Jagger and the rest of the band were enjoying huge success. Beggars Banquet was released in 1968 and featured a straightforward rock style. One of its singles, "Jumpin' Jack Flash," hit the No. 1 spot on the U.K. charts.
In 1969, the Rolling Stones went through several big changes. Brian Jones left the group that June after his many drug arrests prevented him from leaving the country for the group's U.S. tour. He was replaced by 20-year-old guitarist Mick Taylor. Jones was found drowned in his pool less than a month later. The coronor's report found 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' untimely demise, The Rolling Stones performed a free concert in Hyde Park on July 5, 1969, two days after Jones' death. Originally scheduled as an opportunity to present their new guitarist, the group dedicated the concert to Jones.
Before the concert began, Jagger read excepts from Percy Shelley's "Adonais," a poem about the death of a friend. Stagehands released hundreds of white butterflies as part of the tribute, and The Stones played one of Jones' favorite songs: "I'm Yours And I'm Hers."
Tragedy struck again several months later when the band launched their highly anticipated Let It Bleed (1969) album. To promote the record, the Stones organized a free concert at Altamont Speedway in northern California for that December. While the band was playing "Under My Thumb," a young man in the audience was stabbed and killed by a member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang. The tragic event was captured on film, and featured in the documentary Gimme Shelter.
Outside of the band, Jagger was branching out in acting. He played the title character, a legendary outlaw, in the film Ned Kelly (1970).In Performance (1970), Jagger played a reclusive rock star. Neither film made much of an impression on movie audiences.
While film success escaped him, Jagger remained a popular rock star. The Rolling Stones had several hit albums in the 1970s Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main Street (1972), and Some Girls(1978). By the mid-1980s, relationship between JaggerandRichards had become increasingly strained. Jagger focused much of his energy on a solo career with mixed results. While his first effort, 1985's She's the Boss, sold well enough to go platinum, his second album Primitive Cool (1987) failed to interest music buyers.
In 1989, the Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jagger and Richards decided to work together again around this time, resulting in Steel Wheels (1989), which reached the No. 3 spot on the U.S. album charts. To promote the record, The Rolling Stones toured extensively.
Jagger tried his hand at another solo record, 1993's Wandering Spirit, which was met with lukewarm enthusiasm. The following year, he fared much better with The Rolling Stones's latest effort Voodoo Lounge (1994). The record received strong marks from critics, winning a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.
In between recording Bridges to Babylon (1997) and A Bigger Bang(2005) with The Rolling Stones, Jagger again aspired to establish himself as a solo artist with 2001's Goddess in the Doorway. He also developed a career for himself as a film producer, working on such projects as The Women (2008) and the forthcoming animated workRuby Tuesday. Once viewed as a rebellious rocker, Jagger was the picture of decorum when he received a knighthood from Elizabeth II in 2003.
Jagger is a father of seven children. He has a daughter named Karis Hunt Jagger, born November 4, 1970 with actress Marsha Hunt. Around this time, Jagger became involved with Bianca Perez Moreno de Macias. The couple was married from 1971 to 1980 and welcomed a daughter named Jade Sheena Jezebel on October 21, 1971.In 1990, Jagger wed longtime girlfriend model Jerry Hall. They had four children together: 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 relationship ended in 1999 after Hall discovered that Jagger had an affair with model Luciana GimenezMorad. After an initial dispute about paternity, Jagger was established to be the father of Morad's son, Lucas Maurice Morad, who was born on May 18, 1999. Most recently, Jagger has been romantically linked to designer L'Wren Scott amongst others.
