Mick Jagger's punishing exercise regime as he makes heartbreaking confession

15 July 2023 , 15:20

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The Rolling Stones singer marks a major milestone this month (Image: Redferns)

The way he still leaps around on stage like Jumpin’ Jack Flash makes it hard to believe Sir Mick Jagger turns 80 this month.

The Rolling Stones frontman continues to give fans Satisfaction, filling stadiums after more than six decades. And as our archive pictures show, while he may rock some wrinkles now, it’s certainly a case of Not Fade Away.

The father of eight retains the same sense of energy and winning smile – plus that 28-inch waist and a full head of luscious brown locks.

Mick Jagger and Tina Turner (WireImage)

Mick performing in 2018 (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

Yet in recent years, he has appeared reflective about the life he has led, stating: “I suppose you do think about the time that’s allotted to you more than when you were younger. You realise – much earlier than my age now – that you won’t be able to play for England’s football team, just to take a really crass example. So you can’t have that life again.

“The mortality thing obviously has a stronger pull. It’s an imminent truth but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

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Mind you, having sold 240 million records and amassed a fortune of £393million, the former Dartford Grammar School pupil, born Michael Philip Jagger on July 26, 1943, must think his choices turned out well.

Mick Jagger in his youth (Mirrorpix)

Mick Jagger after he admitted possession of heroin and cocaine (Mirrorpix)

And whatever he says, we doubt he will be giving in to old age any time soon. “I don’t think enjoying life is an exclusive prerogative of young people,” he also once said. “Don’t you think it’s sometimes wise not to grow up?”

Mick’s dedication to exercise has undoubtedly helped him defy the years. The son of a PE teacher, he is a fitness fiend who takes a portable jogging track on tour and can often be spotted doing push-ups and interval training backstage.

But despite his good health, Mick did have heart surgery in April 2019, resulting in the postponement of the Stones tour.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (Mirrorpix)

He was admitted to New York’s Presbyterian Hospital after a condition called aortic stenosis – the same condition that killed The Clash’s Joe Strummer in 2002 – was spotted during a routine check-up.

Mick had heart valve surgery and tweeted at the time: “I’m devastated for having to postpone the tour but I will be working very hard to be back on stage as soon as I can.”

Unsurprisingly, he recovered quickly – and was back on stage just three months later, as good as new. As well as exercising, Mick also eats a high-protein diet and plenty of fruit and vegetables, plus legumes.

And he has sex – plenty of it! Rumour has it he has said Let’s Spend the Night Together to more than 4,000 women. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having sex, you know. At any age,” he once said.

Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall (WireImage)

Mick Jagger and Melanie Hamrick (Gregory Pace/REX/Shutterstock)

Mick has enjoyed many long-term relationships, too, and recently got engaged for the third time – to 36-year-old former ballet dancer Melanie Hamrick, as exclusively revealed in the Sunday Mirror.

But while there was always plenty of sex and rock ‘n’ roll, the super-healthy star was never really into drugs, despite the band’s reputation for caning it in the 1960s. As bad luck would have it, the first time he tried LSD, 18 policemen came charging through the door, plunging him into the Sixties’ most notorious drugs trial. It certainly did his bad-boy image no harm, though – especially as it gave rise to the enduring myth that officers found him engaged in a sex act featuring a Mars bar with his then girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithfull.

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He next dated Marsha Hunt, star of the US rock musical Hair, who is mother to his eldest daughter Karis, 52.

Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall with Elisabeth Jagger (Getty Images)

Mick married Bianca Morena de Macia, a Nicaraguan actress and human rights advocate, in 1971. They had daughter Jade, 51, but divorced in 1978 after Mick began an affair with Texan supermodel Jerry Hall, who he met in the Studio 54 nightclub in New York.

She was just 20 and the girlfriend of Roxy Music frontman Brian Ferry at the time.

But Jerry, 67, ended up spending the next two decades with Mick and they had daughters Lizzie, 39, and Georgia May, 31, and sons James, 37, and Gabriel, 25. The couple finally tied the knot in Bali in 1990 but split nine years later, when it was revealed that model Luciana Morad was carrying Mick’s child, son Lucas, 24.

Jerry filed for divorce only to discover their Hindu ceremony was never legally binding and got an annulment instead.

Mick Jagger and David Bowie (Redferns)

After Luciana, Mick dated model and singer Carla Bruni, then model L’Wren Scott, who tragically took her own life aged 49. Mick has been with Melanie since 2014 and had his eighth child, six-year-old Deveraux, with her when he was 73.

A key part of his life has been his professional relationships too, and he has paired up with plenty of A-list stars on stage and on record, from David Bowie and Tina Turner to Lenny Kravitz.

Mick on stage in 1994 (WireImage)

Mick Jagger performs with the Rolling Stones (WireImage)

To celebrate Mick’s milestone birthday, the Stones’ Forty Licks album will finally get its digital release on July 26, followed by a special vinyl release on July 28.

And as Mick looks back on his life and career, undoubtedly his most important partnership is with hellraising bandmate Keith Richards, 79. As the guitarist says in his 2010 memoir, Life: “Mick and I may not always be friends – too much wear and tear for that – but we’re the closest of brothers and that can’t be severed.”

Or as Mick would say: “A good thing never ends.”

Karen Rockett