How Sir Mick Jagger's bus pass would look if he swapped his luxury lifestyle for public transport
HE ONCE said: "I'd rather be dead than singing Satisfaction when I'm 45."
But today, Sir Mick Jagger reaches 65, and the Rolling Stones – with a combined age of 257 – are said to be planning another tour.
At an age when many of his contempo
raries are happy to potter about in the back garden, Jagger, who handles the band's business affairs, was yesterday masterminding a change of record company from EMI to Universal Music.
Reported to be worth some £225 million, he is unlikely to feel the need to collect his £90-a-week pension, and he shows no sign of taking it easy. The Stones' last worldwide tour, A Bigger Bang, was the most profitable rock and roll tour of all time, grossing more than £281 million from 2005 to 2007, according to tour producer Michael Cohl.
His face may be a bit more wrinkled on the next tour, but the Jagger legend lives on. He was recently voted seventh in a list of the sexiest older men in the world, and came sixth on a list of the most stylish men over 40.
And, as band-mate Ronnie Wood tries to cope with alcohol addiction and the possible break-up of his marriage, Jagger, who has seven children, is enjoying a period of stability in his private life with L'Wren Scott, who is more than 20 years his junior.
Although he may rue his "I'd rather be dead" comment, Jagger continues to belt out (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction at every Stones' concert, as shown in Martin Scorsese's recent film Shine a Light.
Jagger has been fielding questions about his age ever since he hit 40 and has learned the art of growing old gracefully.
On the subject of age, he has said: "People have this obsession. They want you to be like you were in 1969.
"They want you to, because otherwise their youth goes with you… It's very selfish, but it's understandable."
When he turned 60 five years ago, he said: "I think every birthday you get to, you sort of can't believe.
"When you're 21, you can't believe you're 21; when you're 30, you can't believe you're 30.
"You start getting a bit better at this as you go on because you've already done 40 – that was big, difficult, incredulous. So you just have to accept it."
Despite reaching retirement age Sir Mick has no intention of stopping performing. He recently said: "I'm sure it will happen one day. It hasn't happened for the moment. We don't look at the clouds of tomorrow through the sunshine of today."
PROFILEFrom a very early age, physical fitness has been a part of Mick Jagger's life. Footage exists of him as a child going through a series of exercises designed by his father Joe, a PE teacher.
And the passion for physical fitness is something which has never really left him, even through the years of rock 'n' roll excess. Jagger has a 28in waist, runs eight miles a day, and kickboxes and works out to stay in shape for tours.
During each show he struts and runs about 12 miles around the stage. His personal trainer, Norwegian Torje Eike, has trained Olympic athletes, national soccer teams and Geri Halliwell.
The full article contains 571 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
