Mick Jagger was born on July 26, 1943 in Dartford, Kent England. Mick was academically successful, attending the London School of Economics on a scholarship. He studied for a degree in accounting and finance, attended for less than a year and did not graduate; dropping out to pursue a musical career.
At the age of 19, Mick began performing as a singer even though he had no formal musical training and did not know how to read music. While Mick knew Keith Richards as a schoolmate, the songwriters reunited when Richards saw Mick with a blues record under his arm, and asked him where he purchased it. The group, combined with Jones, Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart, and Charlie Watts formed the Rolling Stones, based on the Muddy Waters tune “Rollin' Stone.” Stewart was dropped from the band for not fitting the image desired by manager Andrew Loog Oldham, but still toured with the band as a pianist until his death in 1985. It was Oldham who insisted that Jagger call himself "Mick" rather than "Mike", a name he continued to use among friends- for example, John Lennon calls him Mike in the 1968 film “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.”
Mick has become well known over the years for his high profile relationships, such as that with singer/actress Marianne Faithfull in the mid-1960s. He has seven children by four different women, and has been the subject of many scandals over the years. As well as having several official and public relationships, Mick has been linked to Sophie Dahl, Carly Simon, Uma Thurman, Helmut Berger, and Angela Bowie. Mick’s first child was born when he was 27. The mother, fellow singer Marsha Hunt, gave birth to daughter Karis Jagger on November 4, 1970. The couple was not married and did not remain together for long after the birth as Mick became acquainted with activist Bianca Moreno de Macias.
In May 1971, Mick married de Macias, later known as Bianca Jagger. After he separated from Bianca, Mick became involved with English-American supermodel Jerry Hall in the late 1970s. Jerry Hall was rumored to be the 'other woman' who broke up the marriage between Mick and Bianca though she was engaged to Bryan Ferry at the time. Hall became Mick’s companion and Ferry wrote the song “Cry, Cry, Cry” about her. It was also this year that Jagger famously claimed that marrying Hall would give him “claustrophobia.” However, despite this claim, the two were married in 1990 while holidaying in Bali. This marriage has since been disputed since it was not properly conducted and may not have been legally valid. Jerry Hall separated from Mick in 1999 after model Luciana Gimenez claimed she was pregnant with Mick’s child. She further filed for divorce when a DNA test proved this to be true. It had been rumored an affair took place between the two earlier although nothing had come of it.
While attempting to divorce Mick, it was found that Jerry Hall had never actually been married to Mick at all. Their Hindu wedding on a beach in Bali was, in fact, not recognized under English Law, therefore eliminating the possibility of divorce. Instead Hall had the marriage annulled in 1999, officially ending the 22-year partnership.
Mick is one of Britain's richest musicians, with a personal fortune of an estimated £205m.
Mick dated singer and songwriter Carly Simon in the late 1960s. In 1973, she wrote and recorded the number one hit “You're So Vain” about a prior boyfriend. Since Simon was newly married, many suspected it was about either Warren Beatty, Cat Stevens, Kris Kristofferson or Mick, who sang harmony on the song. Mick has never commented on the rumor, nor has Simon ever put it to rest. She has denied it being all four on different occasions but also hinted at it being Beatty and Mick.
In 1990, five years after David Bowie and Mick covered the hit song “Dancing in the Street,” Bowie's ex-wife Angela claimed on The Joan Rivers Show that she had caught the two men sleeping together. Angela implied the two had a sexual relationship and that they were both bisexual.
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