Mick Jagger | Songwriters Hall of Fame

Mick Jagger is a singer, songwriter, producer and solo artist who, with Keith Richards, is responsible for the enduring, half-century of success of the imitable Rolling Stones. With his charismatic persona and ability to craft songs that are both intense and irresistible, Jagger is one of rock n’ roll’s most influential musicians.

He was born Michael Philip Jagger in Dartford, Kent, in England on July 26, 1943, five months before his eventual partner Richards was born in the same city. In 1962, Jagger went to London to attend the London School of Economics. While in London, he reconnected with Richards, a childhood friend. That same year, along with Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts, they founded the Rolling Stones, a band rooted in Chicago blues, and one of the most influential bands from the British Invasion of the 1960s and 1970s.

Although they initially performed material written by other songwriters, Jagger and Richards soon began writing their own music, and in 1965 they had their breakout success with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” This was rapidly followed by hits such as “Paint It, Black,” “19th Nervous Breakdown,” “Get Off My Cloud,” “Lady Jane” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Between 1968 and 1972 they turned out a string of albums that would go down as some of rock’s most quintessential and enduring records ever released: Beggar’s Banquet, Let It Bleed, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street.

The Rolling Stones have continued to produce albums with original Jagger/Richards compositions. Other hits from the Jagger/Richards catalog include “Street Fighting Man,” “Sympathy For the Devil,” “Brown Sugar,” “Sister Morphine” and “Let’s Spend The Night Together.” The Rolling Stones have released numerous special compilations throughout the years, including 40 Licks (2002), honoring their 40 years together. In 2005 they released A Bigger Bang, their first original album in eight years; its single “Streets of Love” charted on the Top 15 in the U.K.

Jagger has collaborated with Tina Turner, David Bowie, The Jacksons, Bono, Carly Simon, Lenny Kravitz, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pete Townshend and the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart. The Jagger-Stewart song “Old Habits Die Hard,” which originally appeared on the soundtrack for the Alfie remake, won the 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

In fall of 2016, producer Don Was announced that the Stones would be releasing a new album of blues covers, with Eric Clapton collaborating on a few of the songs. Jagger has also released five solo albums, including She’s the Boss (1985) and Goddess in the Doorway (2001).

He has appeared in a handful of films, including a 2001 World War II drama called Enigma, which he co-produced. The 2016 Havana Moon documentary tells the story of the Rolling Stones’ free concert in Havana in the spring of 2015, when, just days after U.S. President Barack Obama visited the country, half a million Cubans came to watch the Stones’ first-ever show in the Cuban capital.

Jagger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and has won three GRAMMYs: The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award as well as Best Rock Album (for Voodoo Lounge) and Best Music Video (for “Love Is Strong”). He was also voted by the public into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame in 2004 as part of the Rolling Stones. In 2003, Jagger was knighted by Prince Charles for Services to Music.