Mick Jagger

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that Mick Jagger has a place in rock and roll history, rightfully so.

Please allow me to introduce myself…

Michael Philip Jagger was born on July 26, 1943 in Dartford, Kent, England. His parents were working class folks and Mick grew up with an affinity for American style “blues”. He first met his song writer partner, Keith Richards while standing on a train platform and the two began talking about music. At the time, Jagger was enrolled as a student at the London School of Economics. They decided to put together a band and chose the name The Rolling Stones as a tribute to famed bluesman Muddy Waters.

(His education there would come in handy in the years to come when the Rolling Stones were one of the highest paid performers in the world. Even throughout 1990’s when most folks thought the band and Jagger had peaked, each of their tours grossed over 100 million dollars.)

Jagger, shy as youth, seemed to take to the stage the way a duck takes to the water. As the front man for the Stones, he swaggered and danced his way around the stage in a way that hadn’t been seen before and he was to set the model for many bands to come over the years.

The “bad boy” image probably helped. Back in the early 1960’s, compared to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones were playing the music that your parents didn’t want you to listen to. Think about it, while John Lennon and Paul McCartney were writing songs about wanting to hold somebody’s hand, the Jagger/Richards duo was singing about one’s tongue getting tired and and spending the night together and not getting some much needed Satisfaction. Drug charges and a 3 month prison sentence cemented Jagger’s reputation as the “bad boy” of rock and roll.

I think I was about twelve or thirteen when I first began my love affair with Jagger and the Stones. I think I was reading Rolling Stone magazine and the group had just gotten into another scrape with the law, this time over public urination. Jagger’s response to a question on the subject offered up these words of wisdom:

“We’re the Rolling Stones man, we piss anywhere” – or something like that..

Now, that might seem tame by today’s standards but back in the 60’s that was a pretty bold statement, especially to a budding teenager with rebellion on his mind.

In my modest opinion, there’ve been many groups that epitomized the whole “Sex, drugs, and rock and roll” thing. For me, it all started with Jagger and the Stones though.

Can you hear me knocking?

What comes to mind when you think about Mick?

His oversized lips? His tight clothes and other stage wardrobes? His preening and prancing on stage? His ability to change with the times and invent some of their own. Sex, sex and more sex. The guy’s been out there doing it for 40 years now and sometimes it seems as if he’s been living in a time warp.

Is he a “great” singer? Probably not. There’ve been others with a better set of lungs and can bust out a tune much better than he can. Is he a “great” songwriter? Maybe, but the team of Jagger/Richards probably isn’t considered in the same league with Lennon/McCartney.

But, when you put together the whole package, there was nothing like Jagger and the Stones for raw and gritty rock and roll. If you don’t believe me, I suggest you listen to them in their prime when they cut Beggar’s Banquet, Let Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street. To me, that was what rock was all about.

Papa was a Rolling Stone

Besides being a prolific songwriter and performer, Jagger was pretty prolific off the stage too. There always seemed to be girls, girls and more girls, probably too many to list here but the most notable of them are Bianca Jagger and Jerry Hall. All in all, Mick has fathered seven kids.

Karis Jagger was the product of a relationship with someone named Marsha Hunt

Jade Jagger was courtesy of Bianca.

Elizabeth Scarlett Jagger, Georgia May Ayeesha Jagger, James Leroy Jagger and Gabriel Luke Beauregard Jagger all come out of his relationship with model Jerry Hall which was subsequently annulled.

Recently, he fathered another child, a boy by the name of Lucas Morad Jagger, with a Brazilian model by the name of Luciana Giminez Morad.

Given his lifestyle, I’m willing to be that there’s some others spread around the globe.

Time is on my side

Who knows how much gas is left in the tank? Jagger’s now a grandfather two times over and it look as though the Stones might have finally called it quits. He’s pushing into his 60’s and maybe he’s getting ready to finally settle down and take it easy for the rest of his life. Forty years of performing and partying is a lot to ask of any man.

But then again, who knows?

Brown Sugar

With all of the rumors that surrounded Jagger and his escapades, some of these should be taken with a grain of salt,

Supposedly, the song “Angie” is a tribute to David Bowie’s ex-wife of the same name whom he wooed shortly after their divorce.

Supposedly tried out for the role of Dr. Frank N' Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Supposedly, the lyrics to “Wild Horses” were written as a result of Marianne Faithful miscarrying her and Jagger’s “love child”

Was the first one to approach large corporations and ask them if they wanted to be “tour sponsors” and that the “Voodoo Lounge Tour" back in 1994 remains the most financially profitable tour in history.

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