Mick Jagger: The Life Story Behind the Rolling Stones Frontman

Mick Jagger is the frontman who never learned how to stand still. For more than sixty years, he has run across stages, danced, pointed, strutted and sung while tens of thousands of people sang back at him. He is the face and the voice of the Rolling Stones, a band that has outlasted almost every other band in rock history. Other singers have retired, faded or changed their sound to fit the times. Jagger kept moving, kept singing and kept finding new crowds who wanted to hear the old songs and the new ones.

He was born in an ordinary English town, went to an ordinary school and seemed headed for an ordinary career in business. Then music took him in a different direction, and he never looked back. The story of his life is not only about hit songs. It is about energy, about a partnership with Keith Richards that has lasted through fights and long silences, about fame that never really went away, and about a man who turned a restless nature into a career that has lasted longer than most marriages, most companies and most governments.

What makes Jagger worth studying is the way he has stayed at the top without ever becoming a museum piece. He has been mocked, praised, copied and criticised, and he has kept working through all of it. He has lost bandmates, he has faced tragedy, he has been a father many times over, and he has been knighted. Through it all, he has remained the same restless figure on stage, the man in the middle of the noise who seems to need the noise to feel alive. This is the story of how a boy from Dartford became one of the most famous performers in the world, and why he is still performing in his eighties.

A Boy From Dartford Who Loved to Sing

Michael Philip Jagger was born on 26 July 1943 in Dartford, Kent, in the south-east of England. His father, Joe Jagger, was a teacher of physical education, and his mother, Eva, was a hairdresser. The family lived in a modest house, and Mick grew up with a younger brother, Chris, who also became a musician. Dartford was a working town, not a place of glamour, and Mick’s early life was shaped by school, by sport and by the radio. His father wanted him to be active and disciplined, and Mick played sports, but his real love was music. He sang in the church choir, he listened to records, and he copied the sounds he heard.

At school, Mick met Keith Richards, a boy from the same town. They went to the same primary school, and then they went their separate ways for a few years. Mick was a good student, and he won a place at the London School of Economics, where he studied business and economics. It was a serious path, and his family hoped it would lead to a safe job. Mick was clever, and he could have done well in that world. But music kept pulling him back. He listened to American blues and rhythm and blues records, he sang along to them, and he began to collect the sounds that would shape his whole life.

The meeting that changed everything happened on a train platform in Dartford in 1961. Mick was carrying records by American blues artists, and Keith noticed them. The two young men started talking about music, and they found that they shared a deep love for the same records. They began to play together, to listen together and to dream about forming a band. It was a small moment, a chance meeting on a station, but it became one of the most important meetings in the history of popular music. Two boys from Dartford, who had lost touch after primary school, found each other again through a stack of records.

Mick’s voice was not a smooth, trained voice. It was rough, sharp and full of attitude. He could sing a blues song with a sneer, and he could sing a pop song with a smile. He learned to move while he sang, to use his whole body as part of the performance. In the early days, he sang in small clubs in London, where the audience was close enough to touch the stage. He learned to hold a crowd, to tease them, to make them laugh and to make them dance. Those small rooms taught him lessons that a big stadium never could. He learned that a singer must give energy first, and the crowd will give it back.

The Rolling Stones Are Born in a London Club

In 1962, Mick and Keith joined a band that was forming around Brian Jones, a talented guitarist from Cheltenham who loved American blues. The band took the name the Rolling Stones, from a song by the blues singer Muddy Waters. The early line-up changed a few times, but by 1963 it had settled with Mick on vocals, Keith and Brian on guitar, Bill Wyman on bass, Charlie Watts on drums and Ian Stewart on piano. Their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, saw that the band needed a wild image to stand out from the Beatles, and he pushed them to look rough, dangerous and rebellious. Mick fitted that image well. He had the lips, the hair and the attitude, and he knew how to use them.

The Stones played in clubs such as the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, where young fans danced to their loud, blues-based sound. They recorded their first singles in 1963, including a version of Chuck Berry’s Come On, and then they had their first big hit in Britain with It’s All Over Now in 1964. The band toured Britain and then America, where they were shocked by the size of the country and by the violence of some of the crowds. They were young, they were loud, and they were learning fast. Mick was the centre of the show. He danced, he shook his hips, he pointed at the crowd, and he made the audience feel as if something dangerous was happening.

In 1965, the Stones released (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, a song written by Mick and Keith. The guitar riff was simple and unforgettable, and Mick’s singing gave the song a feeling of frustration and boredom that young listeners recognised at once. It became a number one hit in America and in many other countries, and it made the Stones world famous. The song is still one of the most played rock songs in history. It showed that Mick and Keith could write songs together, and it began a songwriting partnership that would last for decades.

The band’s early years were also marked by trouble. In 1967, Mick and Keith were arrested after a police raid on a house in Sussex, and they faced drug charges. The case became a national story in Britain, and many people felt that the police were trying to make an example of them. Mick was given a prison sentence, which was later overturned on appeal. The experience taught him that fame brought attention from the police and the press as well as from fans. He learned to be careful, to guard his privacy and to understand that a rock star’s life was watched in a way that an ordinary life was not.

Satisfaction, Stadiums and the Biggest Band in the World

By the late 1960s, the Rolling Stones were one of the biggest bands in the world. They released albums such as Beggars Banquet in 1968 and Let It Bleed in 1969, and songs such as Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Honky Tonk Women and Sympathy for the Devil became part of the sound of the time. Mick’s stage act grew bolder. He wore tight clothes, he danced in a way that shocked older people, and he sang about sex, drugs and rebellion with a grin. Some parents hated him. Their children loved him. That was the point. He was the voice of a generation that did not want to live the quiet life their parents had lived.

The band also faced tragedy. Brian Jones, the founder of the band, left the Stones in 1969 and died shortly afterwards. Mick was deeply affected by the loss. He read a poem at a free concert in Hyde Park in London, a concert that was meant to introduce the band’s new guitarist, Mick Taylor. The concert drew a huge crowd, and it showed that the band could still draw people together even in sadness. The Stones kept going, and they recorded Exile on Main St. in 1972, an album that many critics now call one of the greatest rock albums ever made. Mick’s singing on that record is loose, soulful and full of life.

In December 1969, the band played a free concert at Altamont in California, which ended in violence and the death of a young fan. The event became a dark moment in the history of rock music, and Mick was shaken by it. He had wanted the concert to be a celebration, and it turned into a disaster. He learned that a huge crowd, a bad atmosphere and poor planning could turn dangerous very quickly. The band took the lesson seriously, and their later tours were planned with much more care. Altamont stayed with Mick for a long time, and it is still talked about whenever people discuss the dangers of big rock concerts.

Through the 1970s, the Stones became a stadium band. They toured the world, playing to crowds of tens of thousands, and they released hits such as Brown Sugar, Angie, It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll and Miss You. Mick became a global star, known in every country where rock music was played. He lived in many places, including London, New York and France, and he moved in circles that included artists, actors, politicians and royalty. He was no longer just a singer from Dartford. He was a cultural figure, a man whose face and voice were known around the world.

The Songwriting Partnership and the Fights With Keith

The heart of the Rolling Stones has always been the partnership between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. They wrote songs together, they argued together, and they kept the band together even when they could barely speak to each other. Mick was the singer, the frontman and the businessman of the band. Keith was the guitarist, the riff-maker and the soul of the band’s sound. They needed each other, and they knew it. Their songs, from Satisfaction to Start Me Up to Angie, came from a mix of Mick’s words and Keith’s guitar ideas. It was a partnership built on a shared love of blues, soul and rock and roll.

But the partnership was not always smooth. In the 1980s, Mick and Keith fell out badly. Mick wanted to make a solo career, and Keith felt that Mick was neglecting the Stones. Mick released a solo album, She’s the Boss, in 1985, and then Primitive Cool in 1987. The records had some good songs, and Mick toured as a solo artist, but they did not match the success of the Stones. Keith wrote and spoke about the split in angry terms, and for a time it looked as if the band might never work together again. Mick, for his part, felt that he needed space to try new things, and he did not want to be only a Stone for the rest of his life.

The two men eventually made peace, and the band came back together for the album Steel Wheels in 1989 and a huge world tour. The tour was a success, and it showed that the Stones could still fill stadiums after more than twenty-five years. Mick and Keith learned to work together again, even if they did not always agree. They divided the work, they respected each other’s strengths, and they kept the band going. Their friendship, if that is the right word, was not warm in the old way, but it was strong. It was built on history, on music and on a shared understanding that neither of them could do what the Stones did on his own.

In later years, Mick has spoken about the partnership with a mix of humour and honesty. He has said that he and Keith are like an old married couple, who argue, who know each other’s faults and who stay together anyway. Keith wrote a book, Life, in 2010, in which he spoke frankly about Mick, and Mick responded with his usual calm. The band kept touring, kept recording and kept selling out shows. The partnership survived because the music mattered more than the arguments, and because both men understood that the Stones were bigger than either of them.

Solo Work, Films and a Life Beyond the Stage

Mick Jagger has always wanted more than one life. He has acted in films, including Performance in 1970, a strange and daring film in which he played a rock star, and Freejack in 1992. He has produced films, including a film about the soul singer James Brown. He has worked as a businessman, helping to run the Rolling Stones as a company, and he has been careful with money in a way that many rock stars have not been. He understood early that a band is also a business, and he made sure that the Stones were paid fairly for their work. That business sense has helped the band to keep touring and recording for so long.

His solo career, while never as big as the Stones, has shown a different side of him. On his solo records, he tried dance music, pop, funk and world music. He worked with other singers, including David Bowie on a version of Dancing in the Street in 1985, which became a hit and raised money for charity. He also worked with the band SuperHeavy in 2011, a group that mixed rock, reggae and Indian music. These projects did not always succeed, but they showed that Mick was still curious about music. He did not want to repeat the same song for sixty years. He wanted to try new sounds, even if the public did not always follow him.

His personal life has been widely reported, and it has been full and complicated. He married Bianca Jagger in 1971, and they had a daughter, Jade. The marriage ended in divorce in 1978. He then had a long relationship with Jerry Hall, with whom he had four children, Elizabeth, James, Georgia and Gabriel. He has other children from other relationships, including Lucas, and in 2016 he became a father again at the age of seventy-three, when his son Deveraux was born. He has eight children in total, and he has spoken about the joy and the difficulty of being a father across many decades. His family life has been messy at times, and he has not hidden that. He has tried to be present for his children, even while touring the world.

Mick has also been involved in charity work, including work for education and for health. He has supported causes in Britain and around the world, often quietly, without making a show of it. He has also been a figure in British public life, known to politicians and to royalty. In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, becoming Sir Mick Jagger. The honour was controversial with some people, including Keith Richards, who felt that it went against the rebellious spirit of the Stones. Mick accepted it with pride, and he said that it was a great honour for him and for his family.

Loss, Age and Still Running Across the Stage

In the 2010s, the Rolling Stones faced new losses. In 2014, Mick’s partner, L’Wren Scott, a fashion designer, died, and Mick was deeply affected. He spoke about the loss with sadness, and he took time away from work to grieve. The band cancelled shows, and Mick spent time with his family. It was a reminder that even a man who seems unstoppable can be stopped by grief. He returned to work slowly, and the band toured again, but the loss stayed with him.

In 2021, Charlie Watts, the Stones’ drummer since 1963, died at the age of eighty. Charlie had been the quiet heart of the band, a man who loved jazz and who kept the beat steady for almost sixty years. Mick spoke about him with love and respect, and the band toured with a new drummer, Steve Jordan, who had been a friend of Charlie’s. The loss of Charlie was a huge change for the Stones. Mick and Keith had to learn to play with a new drummer, and they had to face the fact that the band they had known for so long was changing. They did it with dignity, and they kept the music going.

Mick has also faced his own health problems. In 2019, he had heart surgery, a valve replacement, and he recovered quickly. He was back on stage within months, running and dancing as if nothing had happened. Doctors and fans were amazed by his recovery, and it became another part of the Jagger legend. He trains, he eats carefully, and he looks after his voice. He has said that he wants to keep performing for as long as he can, and he has shown that age does not have to mean stopping.

In 2023, the Stones released a new album, Hackney Diamonds, their first album of new songs in many years. The album was well received, and it showed that Mick could still write and sing with energy. He toured again in 2024, playing to huge crowds in America. At eighty years old, he was still running across the stage, still singing Satisfaction, still making audiences scream. It is a remarkable sight, and it raises a simple question. How does a man keep doing this for so long? The answer, for Mick, seems to be that he loves it, and that he cannot imagine a life without it.

The 2000s, a Bigger Bang and Hackney Diamonds

In the 2000s, Mick and the Rolling Stones kept doing what they had always done, only on an even bigger scale. They released the album A Bigger Bang in 2005, a record that returned to a harder rock sound, and they toured the world again, playing to stadiums full of fans who had grown up with their songs and to young fans who had discovered them through their parents. Mick was in his sixties, and he was still running across the stage, still singing Satisfaction, and still making the crowd roar. The tour was filmed for a concert film, Shine a Light, directed by Martin Scorsese and released in 2008, which showed the band playing in a small theatre in New York, with Mick dancing, joking and singing as if he were thirty years younger.

The band celebrated their fiftieth anniversary in 2012, with concerts in London and New York, and with a new compilation album, GRRR!, which featured two new songs, Doom and Gloom and One More Shot. Mick was sixty-nine, and the Stones were fifty years old, a combination that no one in 1962 could have imagined. They played more shows in 2013 and 2014, touring America, Europe and Asia, and they kept adding new songs to their set, mixing old hits with newer material. Mick also worked on other projects, including the film Get On Up, a film about James Brown that he produced, and the television series Vinyl, which he produced with Martin Scorsese. He was not only a singer. He was a producer, a businessman and a man with many interests.

In 2016, the Stones released Blue and Lonesome, an album of blues songs, the music that Mick and Keith had loved as boys in Dartford. The album was a return to their roots, a record of songs by Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf and other blues singers, played with warmth and with respect. It won a Grammy Award, and it showed that the Stones could still play the blues with feeling. Mick sang with a raw, honest voice, and the band played with a loose, swinging feel. It was a reminder that, underneath the stadiums and the fame, the Stones were still a blues band from London, playing the music they had loved as teenagers.

Then, in 2023, after the death of Charlie Watts and after a long gap, the Stones released Hackney Diamonds, their first album of new songs in eighteen years. The album featured the song Angry, a sharp, energetic rock song, and it featured guest appearances from Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Elton John and Stevie Wonder. Mick sang with energy, Keith played with fire, and Ronnie Wood added his guitar. The album was well received, and it showed that Mick, at eighty, could still write and sing a great rock song. He toured again in 2024, playing to huge crowds in America, and he showed no sign of stopping. The long goodbye that people had expected for decades never came. Mick just kept going.

My Take:

When I think about Mick Jagger, I think first about energy. Most people slow down as they get older. They walk more slowly, they talk more quietly, they stay at home more often. Mick does the opposite. He runs across a stage at eighty, he dances, he sings, and he makes a stadium full of people feel young again. I find that amazing, and I find it a little frightening too. It makes me ask what drives a person to keep going like that. Is it love of music, is it fear of stopping, or is it simply who he is? I think it is all three, and I think that mix is what makes him so interesting.

I admire his voice, even though it is not a beautiful voice in the usual sense. It is not smooth like a classical singer, and it is not powerful like an opera singer. It is sharp, it is sly, and it is full of attitude. When he sings Satisfaction, I can hear a young man who is bored, frustrated and funny all at once. When he sings Angie, I can hear a man who is sad and gentle. When he sings Start Me Up, I can hear a man who is ready to go. He does not need a perfect voice to make a song work. He needs a real voice, and he has one. That is a lesson for anyone who thinks they need to be perfect to be good.

I also admire the way he has run the Rolling Stones as a business. Many bands have been cheated, have lost their money, or have broken up over money. Mick made sure that did not happen to the Stones. He learned about contracts, he learned about touring, and he made sure the band was paid fairly. Some people criticise him for being too interested in money, and I understand that criticism. But I think it is also a form of care. He cared about the band, he cared about the people who worked for the band, and he wanted the work to last. A band that is paid well can keep playing. A band that is cheated will fall apart. Mick understood that, and I respect him for it.

What saddens me in his story is the loss of Brian Jones and Charlie Watts. Brian was the founder of the band, a talented musician who lost his way, and his death at twenty-seven was a waste. Charlie was the steady heart of the band, a quiet man who kept the beat for almost sixty years, and his death left a hole that cannot be filled. Mick has had to sing on without both of them, and that must be hard. He does not talk about it in a sentimental way, but I can see it in his face when he talks about Charlie. He loved him, and he misses him. Fame does not protect a person from loss. It only makes the loss more public.

I think about his relationship with Keith Richards a lot, because it is one of the longest partnerships in music. They have fought, they have insulted each other, they have gone years without speaking properly, and they have still come back to make music together. That is not a simple friendship. It is a working marriage, built on history and on need. I find it moving that two men who are so different can still share a stage after sixty years. Mick is careful, disciplined and business-minded. Keith is loose, wild and instinctive. Together, they make something that neither could make alone. I think that is a good lesson about partnership. You do not need to be the same as your partner. You need to need each other, and to respect what the other person brings.

His personal life is the part of his story that I find hardest to judge. He has eight children with five different mothers, and he has had many relationships. Some people see that as a sign of a selfish man who could not commit. Others see it as a sign of a man who loves deeply but cannot stay still. I do not want to pretend that I know the truth. I think it is fair to say that his children have had a complicated life, with a famous father who was often away. I also think it is fair to say that he has tried to be there for them, and that he loves them. Life is rarely simple, and Mick’s family life is not simple either. I respect him for not hiding it, and for not pretending to be a perfect father.

I also think about the knighthood, and about what it means for a rebel to become Sir Mick. Some people laughed, and some people were angry. Keith did not like it. I think Mick was right to accept it. A knighthood is not a prize for being good. It is a sign that a country recognises what a person has done. Mick has done a great deal for British music, for British culture and for the world. He has taken British rock to every corner of the planet. That deserves recognition, even if the man being recognised once sang about not getting satisfaction. I like the contradiction. It shows that a person can change, and that a country can change too.

If I have a criticism, it is that Mick sometimes seems to care more about the show than about the song. On stage, he is brilliant. In the studio, some of the later Stones records feel less inspired than the early ones. I think that is because Mick is a performer first and a songwriter second. He loves the crowd, the lights and the movement. He does not always love the slow work of writing a great song. That is not a crime, but it means that the Stones have not made a truly great album in many years. Hackney Diamonds was a good step, and I hope it is not the last one. I want to hear Mick write one more great song, not just sing the old ones well.

I also wonder about the cost of never stopping. Mick has been performing for more than sixty years, and he has rarely taken a long break. That takes a toll on a body, on a family and on a mind. He has had heart surgery, he has lost people he loved, and he has lived a life that most people would find exhausting. I admire his stamina, but I also worry about it. I hope he knows when to rest, and I hope he has people around him who tell him the truth. A man who never stops can forget how to be still, and stillness is also a part of life.

For a young reader, I think the lesson of Mick’s life is about energy and discipline. Energy alone is not enough. Many young singers have energy, and they burn out in a few years. Mick has energy and discipline. He trains, he looks after his voice, he plans his tours, and he works hard. He treats his body like an instrument, and he treats his career like a job. That is why he is still on stage at eighty, while other singers from his generation have long retired. If you want a long career, you need to look after yourself, and you need to work at it every day. Talent will get you started. Discipline will keep you going.

I think about his dancing, too, because it is so much a part of who he is. He does not dance like a trained dancer. He dances like a man who cannot keep still. He points, he struts, he shakes his hips, and he makes the audience laugh and cheer. That dancing is not a trick. It is a way of showing joy. When I watch him, I feel joy too, even through a screen. That is a gift. Many performers are technically perfect, and they leave me cold. Mick is not perfect, and he leaves me warm. I think that is because he is enjoying himself, and joy is contagious.

There is also something about his curiosity that I admire. He has tried film, he has tried solo records, he has tried new kinds of music, and he has worked with young artists. He did not lock himself in the 1960s and refuse to change. He listened to new music, he met new people, and he kept learning. That curiosity has kept him young in spirit, even as his body has aged. I want to remember that. I do not want to stop learning when I get older. I want to keep listening, keep trying and keep meeting new people. Mick shows that it is possible.

I also respect the way he has handled criticism. He has been called old, irrelevant, greedy and out of touch, and he has kept going. He does not answer every critic, and he does not try to please everyone. He makes the music he wants to make, and he lets the audience decide. That is a healthy attitude. If you try to please everyone, you will please no one. Mick pleases the people who love the Stones, and that is enough for him. I think that is a good lesson for anyone who creates something. You cannot control what people say. You can only control what you make.

In the end, I think Mick Jagger teaches us that a long life in music is not an accident. It is built on talent, on hard work, on a good partnership and on a refusal to stop learning. He has made mistakes, he has lost people, he has fought with his best friend, and he has still kept going. He has sung the same songs for sixty years, and he still sings them as if they matter. That is because they do matter, to him and to millions of people. When I hear Satisfaction now, I do not just hear a song from 1965. I hear a man who has spent his whole life trying to find satisfaction, and who has found it, again and again, on a stage in front of people who love him.

One more thought stays with me, and it is about the train station in Dartford. Two boys met on a platform because one of them was carrying records. That small meeting changed music for ever. It reminds me that big things often start in small, ordinary moments. A conversation, a shared interest, a chance meeting. Mick and Keith did not plan to become the Rolling Stones. They planned to listen to records together. The rest grew from that simple start. I find that hopeful. It tells me that I do not need a grand plan to start something good. I need a friend, a shared love and a willingness to begin.

I also think about what will happen when Mick finally stops. The Stones will end, and the world will feel quieter. But the songs will remain, and the films of his concerts will remain, and young singers will keep copying his moves. That is a legacy that few people ever achieve. Mick has already achieved it, and he is still adding to it. I am glad that he is still here, still running, still singing, and I hope he keeps going for as long as he wants to. The stage is his home, and I think he knows it.

I also think about his dancing as a form of exercise, because it is not just a stage trick. He runs, he dances, he moves for two hours, and he does it night after night. That takes a body that has been trained, and a mind that wants to move. I think his dancing is a sign of joy, but it is also a sign of discipline. He trains, he rehearses, he looks after himself, and the dancing is the result. Many people his age cannot walk up a flight of stairs without stopping. Mick dances across a stadium. That is not luck. It is work, and I respect the work.

I also think about his children as adults, and about what it must be like to have a father who is Mick Jagger. His children have grown up, they have their own lives, they work in fashion, in film, in music, and they have had to find their own paths in the shadow of a famous father. That is hard, and I think Mick knows it. He has tried to support them, to give them space, and to let them be themselves. I find that moving, because it shows a father who wants his children to be free, even when his own fame makes freedom harder. It is a complicated thing, and I do not pretend to know the full story, but I respect the effort.

There is also something about his business sense that I keep coming back to, because it is so unusual for a rock star. He understood touring, he understood merchandising, he understood that a band is a company, and he made sure the Stones were paid fairly. He did not let managers take advantage of them, and he did not waste money in a foolish way. That care has allowed the Stones to keep touring for sixty years, to pay their crew well, and to keep making music. I think that is a form of respect for the work, and for the people who do it. A band that is run well can last. A band that is run badly will fall apart. Mick ran the Stones well, and I admire him for it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was Mick Jagger born, and how did he meet Keith Richards?

Mick Jagger was born on 26 July 1943 in Dartford, Kent, and he first met Keith Richards at primary school, then met him again on a Dartford train platform in 1961 when Keith noticed the blues records Mick was carrying. That chance meeting led them to play together and form the Rolling Stones.

What was the Rolling Stones’ first huge worldwide hit?

Their first huge worldwide hit was (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, released in 1965 and written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The song reached number one in America and many other countries, and its guitar riff and frustrated lyrics became famous around the world.

Did Mick Jagger have a solo career apart from the Rolling Stones?

Yes, Mick released solo albums including She’s the Boss in 1985 and Primitive Cool in 1987, and he worked with David Bowie on Dancing in the Street in 1985. His solo work was less successful than the Stones, and he later returned to focus on the band.

How many children does Mick Jagger have?

Mick Jagger has eight children, born over many decades, including Jade with Bianca Jagger, four children with Jerry Hall, and his youngest son Deveraux, born in 2016. He has spoken about the joy and difficulty of being a father while touring the world.

Why was Mick Jagger knighted, and when did it happen?

Mick Jagger was knighted in 2003 by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music, becoming Sir Mick Jagger. The honour recognised his long career with the Rolling Stones and his role in taking British rock music around the world.

Who was Charlie Watts, and why did his death matter so much to the Stones?

Charlie Watts was the Rolling Stones’ drummer from 1963 until his death in 2021 at the age of eighty, and he was the quiet, steady heart of the band. His death left a huge gap, and the band toured afterwards with Steve Jordan, a friend of Charlie’s, on drums.