Sir Mick rocks on just hours after death of his father

11 April 2012
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Grief-stricken Mick Jagger performed to a sell-out 14,000 crowd in Las Vegas at the weekend, despite finding out just five hours beforehand that his beloved father Joe had died from pneumonia.

Read more...

• Rock industry giant fights for life after fall at Clinton's party

• Stones reschedule concert after Mick Jagger's sore throat

• More TV and showbiz news

The former PE teacher, whom Jagger regarded as the greatest influence in his life, died in hospital two weeks after injuring himself in a fall at his Surrey home. He was 93.

Sir Mick had rushed back from the US leg of the Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang world tour to be at his father's bedside at Kingston Hospital on Friday evening.

But he took the decision to return to the US to perform on Saturday after being told his condition was improving.

Sadly, just hours after Sir Mick left his bedside, Joe's condition rapidly deteriorated. Jagger found out about his father's death in a phone call shortly after 3pm American time on Saturday when he was preparing for the concert.

He went on stage at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas five hours later - with friends saying it was 'what Joe would had wanted'.

A friend said: "Mick made a decision to fly home to see his father on Friday and arrived at Kingston Hospital late that evening and stayed for a few hours, leaving to return to Vegas when Joe fell asleep on Friday night.

"He took the condition of his health into account but obviously would not have flown back if he thought his father's condition was going to deteriorate.

"He returned to the States knowing that his father would have wanted the show to go on, as it were. It sounds a terrible cliche, but that is what Joe would have wanted.

"He got into Vegas in the early hours of Saturday morning and heard the news shortly after 3pm that day. Needless to say he was devastated.

"That's when he had to decide whether to go on with the show or not. With Joe it was what he would have wanted and that's why Mick pressed on with it.

"It was a terribly difficult thing for Mick to do, he was very upset not to be at his father's side as he slipped away. Mick will be returning to the UK for a private funeral in the next few days."

Sir Mick has described his father in the past as the man who "taught me how to apply myself and how to distribute my energies best".

He added: "He worked a lot harder than I do. But I think people did in those days." When the singer was awarded a knighthood in 2003, Joe accompanied him to Buckingham Palace.

Sir Mick said that while the award had not meant a great deal to him, he was touched by how significant it was to his father. "He was very proud," he said.

Joe had used his fitness-training background to devise his son's workout routines which were credited with giving Jagger his phenomenal stamina on stage.

Joe said: "Mick has gradually learned, as he gets older, that keeping fit becomes more important. He is very careful about what he eats and drinks.

"He tends to stick to fish and Perrier water. He hardly ever touches alcohol, except perhaps a glass of wine with his meal. I have told him it's no use just jogging all the time, without any other form of exercise."

Asked once about his son's position as a veteran rocker, Joe replied: "As far as we are concerned, he is still making great music and his fans agree."

In 1995, after becoming increasingly concerned about his parents' health, Sir Mick moved them into a small house in a cul-de-sac in Ham on the borders of Richmond Park, near Jagger's own home. His mother, Eva, died six years ago at the age of 87, months before she and Joe were due to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary.

Sir Mick had visited her almost every day after she was hospitalised in Wimbledon, south west London with serious heart problems and jaundice. But he was eventually abroad for her death too - promoting his film work.

A spokesman for Jagger said: "Mr Jagger was admitted to Kingston Hospital, Surrey, just over a week ago and died of pneumonia. The family would like to thank the hospital for their care and support."

He said the family would not be making any further comment at this stage and arrangements would be made for a private funeral.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in