Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has been in one of the most successful rock bands in
history since 1962.
But the singer has trudged through many turmoils and tragedies, some of which have been of
his own making.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the troubled history of Mick Jagger.
It's widely known that Mick Jagger is something of a ladies' man, but as The Irish Independent
tells us, pretty much every report of his lechery is an understatement.
From broom closet affairs with Brigitte Bardot and Tina Turner to opulent backstage parties,
the singer's life has been a constant conveyor belt of women.
It's estimated that he has slept with over 4,000 women.
Jagger's female therapist, who he ended up having an affair with, had this to say about
the singer, quote,
"Being with all these different people makes him feel young and gives him all this energy.
He can't stay faithful.
He has to get that satisfaction from bedding a lot of women at the same time."
Unfortunately for Jagger, this attitude has bled into other walks of his personal life
and caused irreparable damage.
His long relationship with model Jerry Hall ultimately ended in her filing for divorce
after Jagger tore down the final barriers of her trust by getting a Brazilian model
pregnant.
According to The Journal, Jagger's response was to argue that he and Hall were never actually
married because their 1990 wedding ceremony in Bali was never legally valid, and they
hadn't registered the marriage afterwards.
The court later voided the marriage.
Jagger moved on to other romantic relationships and continued to live like a true rock star.
These days, the Rolling Stones might seem like a group of forever-touring elder statesmen
of rock and roll.
But back in the day, they were one of the most dangerous bands out there, to the point
that even a casual Mick Jagger interview could contain quotes that would destroy almost any
other band's career.
One of Jagger's most infamous interviews happened in 1978, while he was promoting the band's
newest release, Some Girls.
When the 35-year-old singer sat down to discuss the album with the Today Show, Jagger was
asked how he felt about the album being criticized as sexist and, possibly, racist.
Jagger's tongue-in-cheek response raised a few eyebrows in '78 but today, it would probably
require a full apology tour.
"The next one's gonna be more racist and more sexist, and it's gonna be a whole bunch better."
Of course, guitarist Keith Richards wasn't going to let Jagger be the only one making
inflammatory statements.
Richards said that the album was called Some Girls because the band simply couldn't remember
all of the women's names.
Few events in the history of popular music cast a darker shadow than the Rolling Stones'
tragic free concert at the Altamont Speedway in California.
As The Telegraph tells us, Altamont was a joyless event that was far from the intended
Woodstock-style experience, and the vibe among the audience was hostile.
Mick Jagger was punched in the face as soon as the band's helicopters landed.
What's more, the Hells Angels, who were acting as a security force at the concert, were an
imposing presence.
Audience members and musicians witnessed the motorcycle gang become extremely violent many
times throughout the day.
By the time the Rolling Stones took the stage, some people were having very bad drug-related
experiences and the Hells Angels were readily handing out beatings.
Ultimately, the violence escalated to the point where one audience member pulled out
a gun.
The Hells Angels stabbed him to death as the band, unaware of the situation's magnitude,
continued the show.
By the time the Rolling Stones escaped the venue in a helicopter, four audience members
had died.
Many critics agree that the disastrous Altamont concert marked the end of the free-love 1960s.
According to The Telegraph, the tragic events of the Altamont concert made Jagger decide
against using the services of the Hells Angels ever again.
Some members of the gang felt as if they were getting the cold shoulder treatment from the
singer...so they made a decision to kill him.
Their plan was to attack the singer's holiday residence in Long Island, New York, from the
sea, so they could avoid the security at the front of the building and sneak in through
the beachfront garden.
Luckily for Jagger, the plan was foiled by an unexpected storm, which threw all the Hells
Angels overboard.
Though they all survived, it appears the experience was enough to deter the bikers from their
Jagger-killing ways.
Strangely, Jagger himself was apparently never informed about his would-be killers.
The ocean-based plan of attack only came to light in 2008, when an FBI agent revealed
it for a British TV series.
Still, if the leather-clad invaders did make landfall, we'd like to think that Jagger would
have been ready for them.
"Okay, let's do it."
Mick Jagger might have had his share of trysts and flings, but even he had his hands full
with singer Marianne Faithfull.
As The Express tells us, Faithfull dated no less than three Rolling Stones members, along
with other music luminaries such as David Bowie.
The four years she spent with Jagger were turbulent, drug-fueled, and scandalous.
Oh, and she cheated on him with Keith Richards, who was irked by the fact that Jagger had
slept with his girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg.
In recent years, Faithfull has shared some of her memories from the era, and she doesn't
exactly present Jagger in a positive light.
According to The Telegraph, she says that her sultry aura and provocative antics during
the 1960s were mostly an act hiding her insecurities and discomfort in the company of men, and
that she needed drugs and alcohol to tolerate sleeping with them.
Despite this, she says her night with Richards was a memorable experience…while keeping
carefully quiet about Jagger, who therefore presumably falls into the "needing drugs and
alcohol" category.
"Oh, you know, staying in time's not everything."
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards might be among the most wildly successful songwriting teams
in rock history, but it's also widely known to be a partnership packed with volatility.
The first signs of serious trouble came around 1983, when they were recording their Undercover
album and utterly refused to be in the studio at the same time, going as far as telling
the producer to remove some of the tracks that the other one had recorded.
Later, Richards allegedly took offense to Jagger's "indifference" with the band and
the frontman's less-than-rocking solo output.
Richards made several not-so-subtle references to the singer's arrogance on his own solo
album in 1988.
As Ultimate Classic Rock tells us, their rocky relationship threatened to break up the band
numerous times over the years.
Richards said that a lot of their problems stem from the fact that the men have always
been a little unsure of where they stand with each other.
According to Richards, another major reason for the pair's issues comes from Jagger's
control freak tendencies and the need to be, quote, "numero uno" all the time.
These days, the two superstars seem to have reconciled their differences and Richards,
especially, has a healthy perspective on their long and successful career together.
"In a 50 year relationship doing this stuff, course guys have fights, brothers have fights,
you know.
We're brothers."
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, many members of the Rolling Stones have been arrested at
one time or another, and Mick Jagger was no exception.
In fact, he and partner in crime Keith Richards were the first band members to have troubles
with the law, when the police raided a drug-fueled party at Richards' home in 1967 and arrested
the pair.
Jagger was originally sentenced to three months in prison.
Richards got a full year.
But an appeal managed to dismiss the sentences.
In 1968, Jagger was arrested at another drug bust, this time with girlfriend Marianne Faithfull.
In 1972, Jagger and Richards were arrested in Boston after an altercation with a photographer.
This time the mayor of Boston himself bailed them out so they could make it to a scheduled
concert in time.
In an interview with The Irish Independent, Jagger describes the 1967 arrest, trial, and
the brief stint he actually spent in jail as an unpleasant, "kind of nasty" experience...especially
because the press mercilessly covered the case, which became a notorious clash between
the powers that be and the youth culture of the Swinging Sixties.
It can be easy to forget that much like many other English old-school rockers, Mick Jagger
has a knighthood.
As The Telegraph reports, Sir Mick Jagger received the honor way back in 2003, but the
process was not without its speed bumps.
Knighthoods are traditionally given by the queen, but in Jagger's case, Her Majesty Elizabeth
II wanted none of it.
The ruler of the United Kingdom reportedly considered the Rolling Stones frontman an
unsuitable candidate for knighthood.
She even threw a little shade in the singer's direction and reportedly stated she didn't
have "the stomach" to personally present the honor.
The queen appears to have had some personal reasons behind her distaste, as she disapproved
of Jagger's relationship with her sister, Princess Margaret.
It probably didn't help that the Stones singer has a history of anti-establishment opinions:
He has said that anarchy is the only slight glimmer of hope, and even called Queen Elizabeth,
quote, the "Chief Witch."
In the end, however, Jagger got his knighthood…from Charles, Prince of Wales.
It just so happened that the Queen had scheduled a knee surgery for that exact day, and some
say she even commented to a doctor:
"I would much rather be here than at Buckingham Palace knighting a certain party."
Never one to hold his tongue, guitarist Keith Richards has his own opinions about Jagger's
knighthood and the royal family.
"It's a shoddy award, you know.
Anyway, I wouldn't let that family near me with a sharp stick let alone a sword, you know?"
In 2007, Mick Jagger's father, Joe, passed away.
The Telegraph wrote that the rock star and his dad, a physical education expert, had
a lot more in common than you'd initially assume, and Jagger indeed credits his father
as his biggest influence.
Joe encouraged his son's interest in singing and loaned him money to buy the equipment
for his first band.
In fact, Jagger's father is also responsible for his most famous aspects as a performer:
His tireless, athletic performance style, thanks to the workout regimen Joe taught him
at an early age.
Joe Jagger even gave young Mick his first appearance on television when the two were
featured on an episode of the BBC's Seeing Sport together, demonstrating rock climbing
and camping skills.
Jagger learned of his father's death just hours before a Rolling Stones concert.
Nevertheless, the shocked singer took to the stage, allegedly saying that his father would
have wanted that.
Mick Jagger has been reliably rocking the world since the mid-1960s.
So it makes sense for his age to start showing in some ways.
Even so, it was shocking when the NME reported in early 2019 that the Rolling Stones had
to postpone tour dates because of the singer's illness.
Fortunately, this delay turned out to be a temporary one.
Jagger, who was 75 years old at the time, was extremely apologetic about letting mere
health issues stop him, and promised to get back on the road as soon as possible.
This is actually pretty amazing, considering that the singer eventually revealed what had
been ailing him: A minor inconvenience called heart valve replacement surgery.
Being Mick Jagger, he recovered very quickly and was on his feet after only a few weeks.
Even more impressive, six weeks after the surgery, he posted a video of himself on Instagram
dancing in a studio and preparing to get back out on the road.
It wasn't much longer before he hit the stage for his comeback show in Chicago.
Imagine being an incredibly talented and successful person who has no shortage of achievements.
Unfortunately, your significant other is one of the most famous people in the world, so
no matter what you do, you're doomed by history to be a footnote.
For L'Wren Scott, an extraordinary stylist and fashion designer, this scenario played
out in a particularly tragic manner.
As The Guardian tells us, Scott was a wealthy, successful and popular fashion designer in
her own right, but she also happened to be in a relationship with Mick Jagger.
Unfortunately, her luxurious lifestyle and happy facade evidently hid an internal turmoil,
and in 2014, she took her own life.
Jagger was on the road with the Rolling Stones at the time, and stated that he was
"...struggling to understand how my lover and best friend could end her life in this
tragic way."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).