Mick Jagger

Book excerpt: 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 brilliant musician with a career spanning over four decades. A testament at once to British glamour and sensual decline. The ultimate demigod of rock. Bestselling biographer Philip Norman offers an unparalleled account of the life of a living legend, Mick Jagger. From middle-class schoolboy to rebel without a cause to Sixties rock sensation and global idol, the myth of the inimitable frontman of the Rolling Stones is unravelled by Norman with astonishing intimacy. 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. Jagger is shown in all his paradoxical glory: 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. This revelatory tour de force is ample tribute to a flawed genius who reconfigured the musical landscape.