Mick Jagger is the lead singer for the most famous rock and roll band still in existence today. You would think there can’t be anything left unknown about the Rolling Stones frontman. And it’s likely that diehard fans might know a few (or maybe all) of these facts about him. But if you’re a casual follower of rock who only knows Jagger as the guy preening around on the stage and singing “Satisfaction” at an age when most folks have long since called it a career, you might not know these fascinating tidbits about Mick.
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1. He Could Have Been an Accountant
Jagger was only 18 years old when The Rolling Stones played their first official gig in 1962. Thus, it’s not like he went very far down the road to doing anything else with his life. Yet if he’d never met Keith Richards and Brian Jones, it’s most likely that he would have been preparing tax returns and looking for write-offs for a living.
Even when he had already begun informally playing in clubs with the core that would become the Stones, he was taking classes at the London School of Economics. Other career paths could have been teacher (as many relatives, including his father, were in that profession) or journalist (something he seriously considered if music hadn’t worked out). What’s interesting is that the background in accounting likely came in handy down the road when it became clear that the Stones would have to briefly get out of England to dodge heavy tax bills.
2. His Movie Career Is More Extensive Than You Think
It’s commonly known that Jagger was one of the first rock musicians to jump from stage to screen. He took roles in the films Performance and Ned Kelly at the height of the Stones’ popularity, and barely missed out on some really parts. He turned down a role in A Clockwork Orange and came up short to Tim Curry in his efforts to be cast in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
But many might not realize that Jagger has his own production company that has spearheaded many well-regarded films. Jagged Films first hit the movie map with the 2001 thriller Enigma, and they were also behind the star-studded dramedy The Women (with Meg Ryan and Annette Bening) in 2008. Not surprisingly, many of the films produced by Jagger and his company are right in his musical wheelhouse, including documentaries on Jerry Lee Lewis and James Brown as well as a biopic on Brown which starred the late Chadwick Boseman.
3. He Eulogized Brian Jones with Both a Poem and a Song
Brian Jones essentially founded The Rolling Stones and was a part of their massive success they enjoyed in the mid-‘60s. Unfortunately, his substance issues caused him to become estranged from the rest of the group by the end of the decade. Jagger, Keith Richards, and Charlie Watts fired him in the summer of 1969, just a few weeks before he died in his swimming pool.
In their first concert without Jones, just two days after his death, an emotional Jagger read a portion of the Percy Bysshe Shelley elegiac poem “Adonais” to begin the show. Jagger had begun writing a song about Jones’ issues before his death. When the band was recording their landmark 1972 album Exile on Main St., Jagger returned to the song, entitled “Shine a Light,” and gave it a benevolent, gospel spin to create a touching tribute.
4. He Guested on One of the Most Famous Songs of the ’70s (and May or May Not Have Inspired It as Well)
Although they’ve both been coy about the details, Jagger and singer/songwriter Carly Simon engaged in some sort of brief, intense relationship prior to her writing the massive 1972 hit “You’re So Vain.” Jagger was tagged to provide backing vocals on the track. What we don’t know for sure is if Jagger was in any way the model for the heartless lothario Simon immortalized in the song. Over the years, she’s denied that it was Jagger, while providing hints about other possible candidates (Warren Beatty being the most likely). The most recent comments from Simon suggest the song is an amalgamation of several different men she knew, meaning there could still be a little part of Jagger in there.
5. He Substituted for Freddie Mercury on an ‘80s Hit
Michael Jackson famously collaborated with Paul McCartney for a couple of big early ‘80s hits. He apparently had intended to do the same with Freddie Mercury, to the point that the pair recorded some demos together, including one of a song penned by Jackson and guitarist Randy Hansen that would eventually become “State of Shock.”
Yet Mercury and Jackson left the song unfinished for some reason, with Jagger eventually picking up the baton to be MJ’s duet partner. “State of Shock” appeared on The Jacksons’ 1984 reunion album, Victory. Although Jagger later expressed distaste for the finished product, the rock-funk-dance hybrid blasted its way into the Top 5 anyway. Jagger also thought enough of the song to perform it with Tina Turner at Live Aid in 1985.
Photo by David Wolff-Patrick/Redferns
