Greatest rock ‘n’ roll showman Mick Jagger turns 80

LONDON, United Kingdom — Mick Jagger once sang “what a drag it is getting old” but the most senior swinger in town shows little sign of slowing down as he turns 80 on Wednesday. The Rolling Stones frontman is still strutting and gyrating in front of packed-out arenas, most recently touring Europe to mark the band’s 60th anniversary.

The icon of ‘60s counterculture underwent a heart valve replacement in 2019, but his regime of running, kick-boxing, cycling and yoga has maintained his svelte figure and longevity as an energetic showman.

The band completed its 14-date “Sixty” tour last year, although had to cancel one date when Jagger caught COVID. It was the first time the band had performed without drummer Charlie Watts, who died in 2021. The remaining members plan to release a new album in tribute to their late drummer later this year, the first LP of original material since A Bigger Bang in 2005. It will reportedly feature Beatles legend Paul McCartney and former Stones bassist Bill Wyman, 86, more than 30 years after his departure from the band.

Beyond the Stones, Jagger teamed up with Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in 2021 to record Eazy Sleazy, a song about life during the pandemic. With songs like Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Gimme Shelter, Sympathy for the Devil and Not Fade Away, Jagger’s band helped detonate the cultural and social explosion of the 1960s.

The charismatic frontman built a reputation for pushing boundaries, taking full advantage of the era’s sexual revolution and recreational drug use.

Michael Philip Jagger was born on July 26, 1943, to middle-class parents in Dartford, south of London. He started jamming with childhood friend Keith Richards in 1960 after they discovered a mutual love of the blues, and have enjoyed a productive, if love-hate, relationship ever since.

Jagger dropped out of the London School of Economics in the pursuit of fame and in 1965 the band had its first smash hit with (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. A string of massive hits across five decades followed, including Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Women and Paint It Black. The band became as famous for its off-stage antics as those on it.

Jagger and Richards were found guilty of drug offences in 1967, while founding member Brian Jones paid the ultimate price for the rock and roll lifestyle, drowning in his swimming pool in 1969. “I wasn’t understanding enough about his drug addiction,” Jagger said in 1995. “Things like LSD were all new. No one knew the harm. People thought cocaine was good for you.”

Despite the drug-fueled indulgences and controversies, Jagger has always kept a careful eye on the commercial side of things and has amassed a $400B fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2021. For all his image as a subversive figure, Jagger has in later life become a pillar of the establishment. He became “Sir Mick” in 2002 after being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and is frequently spotted at Lord’s, watching the England cricket team. The rocker became a father for the eighth time in 2016 when American dancer Melanie Hamrick, his current partner, gave birth to a son. He already had seven children from four previous relationships.