1943-present
Mick Jagger News: Rolling Stones Kicking Off Hackney Diamonds Tour
Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones are hitting the road again, this time in support of their 2023 studio album Hackney Diamonds. The 80-year-old Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood begin their Stones Tour ‘24 across North America on April 28 in Houston. The iconic rock group will play 19 shows in total through mid-July, making stops at stadiums in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, and other major cities.
Jagger posted an Instagram video in March showing his tour prep, with the frontman rocking out on an electric guitar. “Looking forward to seeing you all when the tour starts next month!” he wrote in the caption. The 2024 tour marks the band’s first concert series in two years.
Save your seat to see the Stones on StubHub or Ticketmaster.
Who Is Mick Jagger?
Mick Jagger is the lead singer of the Rolling Stones and has delighted fans for more than six decades with his exuberant stage presence. Jagger formed his first band as a teenager in southeast England and eventually left the London School of Economics to start a rock band with childhood friend Keith Richards. Rebellious and rough, the Rolling Stones released their debut album in 1964 and ascended to the top of the music world with major hits like “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” and “Honky Tonk Women.” To date, the band has won three Grammy Awards and released more than 19 platinum or multiplatinum albums. Separately, Jagger attempted a solo music career but was nowhere near as successful. Known for his sex appeal, the singer has been married twice and is a father to eight kids.
Audible 'Mick Jagger' by Philip Norman, read by James Langton
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Michael Philip Jagger
BORN: July 26, 1943
BIRTHPLACE: Dartford, England
SPOUSES: Bianca Jagger (1971-1978) and Jerry Hall (1990-1999)
CHILDREN: Karis, Jade, Elizabeth, Georgia, James, Gabriel, Lucas, and Deveraux
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo
Young Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger was born Michael Phillip Jagger on July 26, 1943, in Dartford, England, outside of London.
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 age 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, guitarist Keith 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.
Forming the Rolling Stones
Jagger, Keith Richards, and Dick Taylor soon joined up with Brian 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 had joined the band as its drummer and Taylor departed, replaced by bassist Bill Wyman. Stewart stayed on to serve as road manager, though he continued playing and recording with the band.
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 style helped them land a deal with Decca Records. Jagger, then 20 years old, was a key ingredient in the band’s growing success, attracting audiences with his stage antics and sex appeal.
Intitially, the group mostly recorded cover versions of other people’s songs. The Stones first made the British charts in 1963 with a cover version of Chuck Berry’s “Come On” before scoring their first No. 1 songs the next year with covers of “It’s All Over Now,” originally by Bobby Womack, and “Little Red Rooster,” first recorded by Howlin’ Wolf. But Richards and Jagger soon emerged as a powerful songwriting team—occasionally using the pseudonym “Nanker Phelge” for some of their early work.
Hit Songs and Albums
In 1964, the Rolling Stones released their self-titled debut album, which topped the British albums chart, and toured the United States. Things really took off starting the next year as the band scored No. 1 songs and albums on both sides of the Atlantic. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Get Off Of My Cloud,” and the 1965 album Out of Our Heads were bonafide hits in the United Kingdom and the United States. Additionally, British fans turned “The Last Time” and Rolling Stones No. 2 (1965) into chart-topping successes.
More hits soon followed, including the No. 1 song “Paint It, Black” and the 1966 album Aftermath. The 1968 single “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” hit the No. 1 spot on the U.K. chart, reached the top 5 in the United States, and marked the straightforward rock style that became synonymous with the Rolling Stones. The banded rounded out the decade with one more No. 1 song, “Honky Tonk Women,” and another chart-topping album in Let It Bleed (1969).
In all, the Rolling Stones have notched 10 No. 1 hits from their original work in the United Kingdom and the United States. Jagger and Richards have written all their chart-topping songs. They include:
- “The Last Time” (U.K. only)
- “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
- “Get Off Of My Cloud”
- “Paint It, Black”
- “Ruby Tuesday” (U.S. only)
- “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
- “Honky Tonk Women”
- “Brown Sugar” (U.S. only)
- “Angie” (U.S. only)
- “Miss You” (U.S. only)
The Stones had several hit albums in the 1970s and early ’80s. Black & Blue (1976), the Grammy-nominated Some Girls (1978), Emotional Rescue (1980), Tattoo You (1981), and Undercover (1983) all quickly went platinum. To date, the band has created 19 platinum or multiplatinum albums, not including live or compilation releases.
Rolling Stones Through the Years
Jagger’s personal life made headlines throughout the band’s rise. He and his girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithfull, were among those arrested during a police raid of Keith Richards’ country home in England in 1967. 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.
Band Tragedies
The year 1969 proved to be a tough year for the Stones. Brian Jones left the group that June after his many drug arrests prevented him from leaving the country for a U.S. tour. Less than a month later, he was found drowned in his pool. According to the coroner’s report, Jones was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of his death, which was ruled “death by misadventure.”
In response to Jones’ untimely demise, the Stones performed a free concert in London’s Hyde Park on July 5, 1969, two days after their former bandmate’s death. Originally scheduled as an opportunity to present their new guitarist, 20-year-old Mick Taylor, 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 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 Hells Angels motorcycle gang. The tragic event was captured on film and featured in the 1970 documentary Gimme Shelter.
Stones’ Breakup and Reunion
Jagger and the Stones rebounded in the early 1970s, enjoying mass popularity amid successful album releases for Sticky Fingers (1971) and Exile on Main St. (1972). Even another lineup change in 1975 didn’t wreck the band’s groove. Guitarist Mick Taylor left the group and was replaced by Ronnie Wood. But the relationship between Jagger and Richards became increasingly strained.
Seeking the independence of a solo career, Jagger became an overbearing leader of the band. This was particularly true through Richards’ heavy drug use in the 1970s, but even after Jagger’s song-writing partner gave up heroin in 1978, the lead singer didn’t loosen his grip. Their differences came to a head during a public fight in the mid-1980s. After that, the Rolling Stones briefly broke up before reuniting in 1988. Their next act saw even more achievements.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction and Grammy Awards
In a span of five years, the Rolling Stones were enshrined as rock royalty and collected their first Grammy Awards. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. That year, they also released Steel Wheels, their most successful album since 1981’s Tattoo You. It was certified platinum within two months and reached the top 5 of the British and American album charts. To promote the record, the band toured extensively.
In the midst of their renewed success, longtime bassist Bill Wyman retired in 1992. Daryl Jones took over the next year (and continues as a member of the band today).
The Stones’ next studio album, Voodoo Lounge (1994), fared even better than their previous effort. It was their first record to top the U.K. album charts in 14 years and received strong marks from critics. Voodoo Lounge eventually earned the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album as their music video for “Love Is Strong,” directed by filmmaker David Fincher, nabbed the group the trophy for Best Music Video, Short Form.
Recent Years: Super Bowl, Historic Havana Concert, and Another Grammy
Following Voodoo Lounge, Jagger and the Stones released two more well-received albums in 1997’s Bridges to Babylon and 2005’s A Bigger Bang, which stood as their most recent original work for nearly 20 years.
In 2006, the band took the stage for the Super Bowl XL halftime show and proved they were still provocative performers even in their 60s. Jagger was censored in two of the three songs he sang, including “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” as the TV broadcast silenced two words that had sexual connotations. Although the band knew about the plan ahead of time, a representative later said, “The Rolling Stones thought the censorship of their songs by the NFL/ABC was absolutely ridiculous and completely unnecessary.”
The Stones made history on March 25, 2016, when they played a free concert to 500,000 people in Havana, where their music previously had been banned by Cuba’s Communist regime for being subversive. The concert followed a historic visit from President Barack Obama just days prior, which was part of an effort to normalize U.S. relations with Cuba.
“We have performed in many special places during our long career, but this show in Havana will be a milestone for us, and, we hope, for all our friends in Cuba, too,” the band said in a statement. The show at Havana’s Ciudad Deportivo sports arena was the band’s first concert in Cuba and part of its 2016 South American tour.
That same year, the Stones released an album titled Blue & Lonesome, consisting entirely of blues cover. It called to mind their earliest musical influences and went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2018, marking the Rolling Stones’ third Grammy.
Meanwhile, Jagger and his bandmates continued to captivate fans with their live performances. However, they had to postpone a North American tour scheduled to kick off in April 2019 to give Jagger the opportunity to recover from heart surgery.
Hackney Diamonds and U.S. Tour
In September 2023, Jagger and the Stones announced the release Hackney Diamonds, the group’s first album of original material since A Bigger Bang 18 years earlier. It also marked the first album since the 2021 death of drummer Charlie Watts, who has been replaced by Steve Jordan. Arriving in October 2023, Hackney Diamonds is named after a British slang term for shards of glass that are left after a break-in.
The 19-track album featured an array of superstar guests contributing either vocally or to musical arrangements, including Elton John, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, and Lady Gaga. It also featured the return of bassist Bill Wyman, who had left the Stones in 1992.
Jagger explained that the band wanted the album to be distinctly modern. “We don’t want it to sound like 40 years ago, and of course, it doesn’t. It sounds like now—the clarity of it, you know, and fidelity of it. And if you listen to it—compare it to an old Rolling Stones record—it’s very, very different,” he told podcast host Tom Power. Fans seemingly liked it, with the album going to No. 1 on the U.K. chart and No. 3 in the United States. The Stones thus became the only act with a top-10 album on the Billboard 200 in every decade since the 1960s.
The band also announced a 19-date 2024 North American tour in correlation with the album, kicking off April 28 in Houston and ending in late June in California.
Solo Career
Jagger’s tremendous success with the Rolling Stones hasn’t stopped him from independent ventures. During the mid-1980s, Jagger focused much of his energy on a solo music 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.
Another solo record arrived in 1993’s Wandering Spirit, which was met with lukewarm enthusiasm. In 2001, Jagger again tried to establish himself as a solo artist with Goddess in the Doorway. His most successful work without his band remains a 1985 duet with David Bowie, “Dancing In The Street.” It became a No. 1 single in the United Kingdom and peaked at No. 7 in the States.
Outside of music, Jagger branched out in acting as the Stones were in their heyday. He played the title character, a legendary outlaw, in the 1970 movie Ned Kelly, then a reclusive rock star for In Performance (1970). Neither film made much of an impression on movie audiences. Decades later, the rock star returned to film, this time as a producer. He has worked on projects like The Women (2008) and Get On Up (2014), a biopic about James Brown.
Once viewed as a rebellious rocker, Jagger was the picture of decorum when he was knighted by then-Prince Charles in 2003.
Girlfriend and Ex-Wives
Known for his sex appeal on stage, Jagger has had numerous romantic relationships, including two marriages, behind the scenes. He is currently dating former ballerina Melanie Hamrick, who is 43 years younger than the musician. The couple has been together since 2014 and share one son together.
Jagger’s ex-wives are Bianca Jagger and Jerry Hall. The rock star became involved with model and actor Bianca, formerly Blanca Perez Moreno de Macias, around 1970. They were married from 1971 to 1978, though neither was faithful throughout the union. One of Bianca’s “very few affairs” was with actor Ryan O’Neal, while Mick had a number of extramarital flings. His final, with Hall, proved to be the breaking point in his first marriage.
Mick and Hall, a model, were together for more than a decade and had two of their four kids before tying the knot in 1990. Ultimately, Hall ended their relationship after discovering Jagger had an affair with model Luciana Gimenez Morad. The former couple reached a settlement and obtained an annulment in July 1999, as their marriage wasn’t legally binding under English law.
Jagger also was romantically linked to designer L’Wren Scott, who launched a fashion brand in 2006. In March 2014, Scott died by an apparent suicide at age 49. At the time of her death, Jagger was on tour in Australia with his bandmates.
How Many Kids Does Mick Jagger Have?
In total, Jagger has eight children with five different women, is a grandfather of five, and is also a great-grandfather.
His oldest daughter, Karis Hunt Jagger, was born in November 1970 to the rocker and actor Marsha Hunt. In October 1971, he and wife Bianca Jagger welcomed their daughter, Jade Jagger.
Mick and his second wife, Jerry Hall, had four children together: Elizabeth, born in March 1984; James, born in August 1985; Georgia, born in January 1992; and Gabriel, born in December 1997.
After an initial dispute about paternity, Mick was confirmed to be the father of Lucas Morad, who was born in May 1999. Jagger had an affair with Lucas’ mother Luciana Gimenez Morad while married to Hall.
Jagger’s youngest child is Deveraux Jagger. News broke in July 2016 that the musician and girlfriend Melanie Hamrick were expecting a child. Jagger was 73 years old when their son arrived that December.
Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Jagger’s total fortune is estimated at around $500 million as of November 2023. Long after the Rolling Stones’ heyday, the band has continued to rake in money through ticket sales. In 2021, Jagger and his bandmates earned $115.5 million from their 14-show No Filter U.S. tour, making them the highest-earning touring act of the entire year.
Quotes
- I have never wanted to give up performing on stage, but one day the tours will be over.
- The past is a great place, and I don’t want to erase it or regret it, but I don’t want to be its prisoner either.
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