Wiki Spotlight: Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick"
Jagger (born 26 July 1943)
is an English rock musician,
actor, songwriter, record
and film producer and businessman.
He is most famous for being
the lead singer and co-founder
with guitarists Brian Jones
and Keith Richards of the
British rock and roll band
The Rolling Stones. He,
along with Richards, is
the main songwriter for
the band. The pair have
composed almost four hundred
songs in close to a half
century of collaboration.
Jagger has come under fire
throughout most his career
but, ironically, the majority
has come from music industry
insiders and fans, as opposed
to puritanical haters of
rock and roll.
The most damning contention
is related to the Stones
concert at Altamont Speedway
in California. In an effort
to keep them from disrupting
the free concert, the Rolling
Stones hired the Hells Angels
as concert security. However,
the plan backfired as the
Angels injured several fans,
killing one - Meredith Hunter,
an eighteen-year-old black
man. It was also rumored
that the Angels supplied
drugs at the concert. The
Rolling Stones have completely
denied ever hiring the Angels.
It was rumored that the
Stones, and Jagger in particular,
not only did not try to
stop the violence, but encouraged
it, by singing "Sympathy
for the Devil" while
the fan died. Other rumors
swirled that Jagger, despite
his blues-based band and
songs such as "Brown
Sugar", was racist
and didn't want a black
fan at his concert. Neither
rumor was true; concert
tapes clearly show Jagger
trying to calm the audience
and end the violence, and
Jagger has been a vocal
anti-racist. Additionally,
the Stones were actually
playing "Under My Thumb"
during Hunter's murder,
but due to media pressure,
they dropped "Sympathy
for the Devil" from
most of their 70's US live
set lists.
More: Wikipedia about Mick
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