Book description
A miracle of still-plentiful hair, raw sex-appeal, and strutting talent
. The frontman of one of the most influential and controversial groups
of all time. A musical genius with a career spanning over four decades.
Mick Jagger is a testament at once to British glamour and sensual
decline, the ultimate architect and demi-god of rock.
Bestselling biographer Philip Norman offers an unparalleled account of
the life of a living legend, Mick Jagger. From Home Counties schoolboy,
to rebel without a cause to Sixties rock sensation and global idol,
Norman unravels with astonishing intimacy the myth of the inimitable
frontman of The Rolling Stones. MICK JAGGER charts his extraordinary
journey through scandal-ridden conspiracy, infamous prison spell, hordes
of female admirers and a knighthood while stripping away the colossal
fame, wealth and idolatry to reveal a story of talent and promise unfulfilled.
Understated yet ostentatious; the ultimate incarnation of modern man's
favourite fantasy: 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll', yet blessed with
taste and intelligence; a social chameleon who couldn't blend in if he
tried; always moving with the Jagger swagger yet modest enough to be
self-deprecating, Mick was a paradoxical energy that reconfigured the
musical landscape.
This revelatory tour de force is ample tribute to a flawed genius, a
Casanova, an Antichrist and a god who, with characteristic nonchalance
realised the dreams of thousands of current contenders and rocker
pretenders, longevity, while coasting on a sea of fur rugs.
'Commendable thoroughness, engaging wit and boundless energy, much as
Jagger has shown over the decades' Mail on Sunday
'Hugely readable' The Guardian
'One of Norman's triumphs in Mick Jagger is to chart the decade's
evolution as well as his progress within it' Sunday Express
'The most ambitious and comprehensive Jagger biography to date' Rolling Stone
'Extremely well researched' Rolling Stone
'Barnstorming…Norman has ploughed this terrain for much of his career,
and brings to his subject both a deep fascination with the ecology of
rock'n'roll plus a sharp eye for its absurdities' The Observer
'Norman's book reads like a thrill ride. He captures as well as anybody
that magical combination of youth, talent and low rent that would
eventually become the Rolling Stones' The New York Times Philip Norman
was born in London and brought up on the Isle of Wight. He joined the
Sunday Times at the age of twenty-two, soon gaining a reputation as
Atticus columnist and for his profiles of figures as diverse as
Elizabeth Taylor, P. G. Wodehouse, Little Richard and Colonel Gaddafi.
In 1981 he published SHOUT!, a ground-breaking biography of the Beatles
that was a bestseller in both Britain and the US. He has also written
the definitive lives of Sir Elton John and Buddy Holly.
His journalism has been published in three collections, THE ROAD GOES ON
FOREVER, TILT THE HOURGLASS AND BEGIN AGAIN, and THE AGE OF PARODY. His
latest book is BABYCHAM NIGHT, a memoir of his childhood on the Isle of
Wight. He is married with a daughter and lives in London.
