Fame_and_Celebrity__Mick_Jagger

Mick Jagger is one of the most popular and influential front men in the history of rock and roll. At the age of 19, Mick began performing as a singer even though he had no formal musical training and did not know how to read music. Jagger fronted the British rock band The Rolling Stones with guitarist friend Keith Richard for over 20 years before he began a solo career in 1985. The Rolling Stones debut was in 1961 the band had little money and no equipment. Three short years later The Rolling Stones were polled England’s most popular group, outranking even the Beatles. In the book According to the Rolling Stones, Jagger states 'I was always a singer. I always sang as a child. I was one of those kids who just liked to sing' (Jagger, 2003). Born into middle class family, Jagger’s accomplishments of being a Golden Globe-winning and two-time Grammy-winning actor, songwriter, record/film producer and businessman pushed him to be categorized as an achieved celebrity. Rojek states that an achieved celebrity 'derives from the perceived accomplishments of the individual… In the public realm they are recognized as individuals who possess rare talents or skills' (Rojek, 2001, p.18). The intension of this essay is to discuss how celebrity achieved rock stars become attributed through cultural intermediaries and in the case Mick Jagger, what impact does knighting have on celebrity status. Rojek defines cultural intermediaries as 'the collective term for agents, publicists, marketing personnel, promoters.... Their task is to concoct the public presentation of celebrity personalities that will result in an enduring appeal for the audience of fans.' (Rojek, 2001, p.10-11). Often cultural intermediaries focus on what sells to the consumer... in the case of The Stones this was scandal. In 1967 Jagger and Richards were arrested on drug charges, they were only given conditional discharge. An article in The London Times was released stating 'only The Rolling Stones could be arrested and hit #1 in record sales, this will be just the start of their success' (Rees-Mogg, 1967), after the article was released the Stones did not resist their bad reputation surfacing. Cultural intermediaries’ 'groom and train celebrity performers' (Gamson 1994, p.64), this is done so that we as a consumer are attracted to them as a whole package, scandal included. To be a celebrity in contemporary society does not necessarily mean that 'one possesses more talent, skill, intelligence, or other gifts then the average person - it merely means that one has been more successfully packaged, promoted, and thrust upon the hungry masses' (Ferris 2007, p.374). Mick Jagger has achieved his success through his talent as a singer, songwriter and manager, but also through the ability of 'cultural intermediaries to influence people' (Hesmondhalgh 2007, p.25). They, media, created Jagger to become a commodity and influence the next generation of the music industry. It is clear that rock starts are a 'commodity produced and distributed by the promotions, publicity, and media industries' (Collins 2008, p.91). 'The celebrity is made by all of us who willingly read about him, who live to see him on television, who buy recordings of his voice, and talk about him to our friends' (Boorstin 1992, p.58). Being a 'rock star Jagger is constantly subjected to a vast range of media representation 'a performers identity cannot simply be understood by reference to the iconography and the sounds of the artist alone, but through a process in which the intentions of the artist are mediated to various interpreting audiences' (Whitely 1997, p.178). Tabloid magazines followed the Stones every move over the years waiting for their next 'payday' Jagger was their central focus because of his high profile relationships with many beautiful woman. It was alleged that he committed various adulterous acts and had a reputation of drug use; the fans loved his bad boy persona. Jagger in a VanityFair profile says 'I wasn't trying to be rebellious in those days I was just being me. I wasn't trying to push the edge of anything. I'm being me and ordinary, the guy from suburbia who sings in this band...' (Schiff, 1992). For the most part The Stones lived a carefree life where 'fame is a quiet place where one is free to be what one really is, one's true, unchanging essence' (Braudy 1997. p.6). In an interview about his fame, fortune and drug abuse Jagger was quoted as saying 'you need some substance to get on stage twice a night and it's not just food and water. Living my day to day life in the public eye is what made me famous; fans wanted to do what I did and go where I went' (Barrett, 2010). As much as rock stars perceive they live carefree lives it's clear that they are still a 'commodity produced and distributed by the promotions, publicity, and media industries' (Collins 2008, p.91). At home Jagger has seven children with four different women, when not working, Jagger helps them with their schoolwork and teaches them to play Ping-Pong and pool. According to a People feature on the couple Jerry Hall, Mick's ex wife, reported that Jagger 'gets down on the floor and plays silly games with them, I don't think he wants anyone to know about all the softy lullabies he sings to the babies. It might mess up his image' (Schindehette, 1999). Who is the media to say that 'bad ass' rock stars can't be family men' A rock star perceives an image that has been created for us to distinguish 'now that there are so many ways for names and faces to appear in public the meaning ... it seems less personal... fame carries with it a comfortable element of familiarity' (Braudy, 1997, p.4). Rock stars are controlled through media as 'the star inhabiting a role because by definition a 'star' is presented to the public packaged and mediated' (Shumway, 2007). The problem with this is they now hold a fixed image that the public is restricted to see. Mick Jagger was marketed as a rock star making the public unconsciously disregard any other projects Mick was involved with. 'Changes can be foreseen if the tension of aspirations is reduced: this might create, or add to, the chances for individuals to satisfy personal ambitions...' (Alberoni, 2006, p.123). Jagger had personal ambitions, which the media overlooked, but he still accomplished. Mick has gained a status from achieved to an attributed celebrity, by simply using the 'media to recognize his rare talents' (Rojek, 2001, p.17) he became famous and proceed to become and attributed rock star through acting, producing and managing. Mick Jagger is one of Britain's richest men, with a 'personal fortune of an estimated £205m' (Celebrity 500, 2009). Making this possible came easy to Jagger when in 1971 he took control of The Rolling Stones business affairs after the band fired manager Allan Klien, Mick has managed them ever since. Jagger has also had an intermittent acting career, most notably in Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg's Performance (1968) and as Australian Ned Kelly (1970) later in his acting career films included Freejack (1992), Bent (1997), and The Man From Elysian Fields (2002). In 1995, Jagger founded Jagged Films with Victoria Pearman so he could ‘start [his] own projects instead of just going in other people's and being involved peripherally or doing music feels great' (Jagger 2001). The Rolling Stones have also been the subjects of numerous documentaries, including Gimme Shelter, which started gaining the band fame in the United States. In later years Martin Scorsese worked with Jagger on Shine a Lightbased on a Stones tour in New York. Most recently Mick Jagger, Martin Scorsese and writer Terence Winter have been developing a new HBO series referred to 'as History of Music: a rock 'n' roll epic, which follows two friends through 40 years in the music business' (Andreeva, 2010). Mick Jagger allows the packaged normalcy’s of a 'rock star' to be challenged, as much as Jagger has faded out of the public eye as a rock star he is still managing to be endorsed in other ways. Twice a year the British government announces recipients of a mass of titles, from knighthoods and dame hoods to Companions of Honor, for exceptional achievement or service to the nation. Mark Abrams writer for the British Public Opinion Quarterly sat in on the 2003 nominations board he says 'it is interesting to see how the elite sample was selected from the pages of Who's Who, and even more instructive to discover how this elite opinion was divided when it came to the name of one Mick Jagger' (Abrams, 2003). On December of 2003 Mick Jagger was knighted for the Services of Music, as Sir Michael Phillip Jagger by The Prince of Wales.They do not give the rank of knight to just any celebrity, it is presented to accomplished people who have reached the highpoint of their profession or helped to give Britain a good image. Jaggers knighting received mixed reactions 'some fans were even disappointed. (Wikipedia, 2010). United Press International noted, 'the honor is odd, for unlike other knighted rock musicians, he has no known record of charitable work or public services' (UPI, 2003). Sir Mick Jagger was thrilled to become a knight, other rock icons including Elton John and Paul McCartney both have been happy to accept knighthoods as well. While many celebrities have quietly refused the honor saying they simply do not understand what it is for. 'Companions of Honor' is not a phrase you would associate with Mick Jagger; Marshall says 'transforming the way society thinks implies influence' (Marshall, 1997, p.21). Having the power to impact change on a society's way of thinking, enough to be considered a civil servant nominated by the government and the public proves, Alberoni's argument an assumption that 'holders of power are 'evaluated' almost exclusively according to the direct of indirect consequences of their activities' (Alberoni, 2006, p.108). It is obvious that Mick Jagger has been considered to some people more then just a rock star; he holds a power to influence his audience. Mick Jagger has proven being subjected to different media representation and cultural intermediaries has its benefits as well as its downfalls. 'Celebrity is a person who is known for his well-knownness...He is neither good nor bad, great nor petty. He is the human pseudo-event. He has been fabricated on purpose to satisfy our exaggerated expectations of human greatness' (Boorstin 1992, p.57). Jagger as a package has been made from a boy who could sing to an international rock icon so that people could enjoy his greatness. He had impact on the next generation of rock stars and proved that even celebrities that rebel can influence society enough to be knighted. Most celebrities do slowly faded from the spotlight over time, but Jagger’s time in the spotlight has powered him to continue creating great things. Mills states that celebrities 'are a material for the media of communication and entertainment, when that time comes to an end- as it must-and the celebrity still lives- as he may- from time to time it may be asked. 'Remember him'' That is what celebrity means' (Mills, 1973, p.72). Jagger approaches what might be considered the retirement years, but he is far from relinquishing the spotlight. Whether he continues his solo career performs with The Rolling Stones, in front of or behind a film camera, it's very clear Jagger will never be satisfied to simply fade away. Books Jagger, 2003, (The Rolling Stones 2003), 'According to the Rolling Stones'. First Edition. Chronicle Books. Marshall, D. 1997, 'Celebrity And Power: Fame and Contemporary Culture.' 1 Edition. University Of Minnesota Press. Whitely, S. 1997, 'Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender', Routledge, London. Journal Articles . Abrams, M. 2003, British Honors, Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 29. . Alberoni, F. 2006 [1962], 'The powerless elite': Theory and sociological research on the phenomenon of the stars', in P.D. Marshall (ed.) The Celebrity Culture Reader, Routledge, New York, p.108-123 Andreeva, N. 2010, Deadline, HBO Development, July 22 2010 Barrett, E. 2010, 'Rolling Stone reveals friction', The New York Press, article 8112142. . Boorstin, D. 1992 [1961], From a hero to celebrity: The human pseudo-event', in The Image : A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, Vintage Books, New York, pp. 45-76. . Braudy, L. 1997 [1986], 'Introduction', in The Frenzy of Renown: Fame and Its History, Vintage, New York, pp. 3-18. . Collins, S. 2008, 'Making the most out of 15 minutes: Reality TV's dispensable celebrity', Television & News Media, volume 9, pp. 87-110. . Ferris, K. 2007, 'The sociology of celebrity', Sociology Compass, volume 1, issue1, pp. 371-384. . . Gamson, J. 1994, 'Industrial-strength celebrity', in Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Contemporary America, University of California Press, Berkeley, pp.57-78. . . Hesmondhalgh, D. 2007, 'Introduction: Change and continuity, Power and creativity', in The Cultural Industrials, 2nd edition, Sage, London, pp.1-25. . . Mills, C. 1973, 'The Celebrities'. The Power Elite, new edition, pp.71-93. . Rees-Mogg, W. 1967, 'Stones Thrown into Jail', The London Times. . . Rojek, C. 2001, 'Celebrity and Celetoids’ [extract], in Celebrity, Reaktion Books, London, pp. 10, 11, 17, 18. Schiff, S. 1992, New York Times: Vanity Fair, cultural profiles, New York. . Schindehette, S. 1999, 'Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall', People Magazine. Shumway, D. 2007, Authenticity: Modernity, Stardom, and Rock & Roll. Modernism/modernity. Volume 14, Number 3, pp. 527-533. . United Press International, 2003. . . Websites BBC One: Mick Jagger on re-visiting the Stones' musical past, viewed October 16 2010, < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8681410.stm> Mick Jagger, Internet Movie Database, viewed 16 2010, < http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001396> Mick Jagger: Celebrity 500, viewed 14 October 2010, Sir Michael Phillip 'Mick' Jagger, viewed October 16 2010,