Mick Jagger at 80: The Rolling Stones frontman’s connection to Glasgow

Rolling Stones frontman, Mick Jagger, today (July 26) celebrates his 80th birthday and remains one of the most celebrated singers of all time, known the world over.

Many of the tributes paid to Jagger will be praising his lengthy career as the lead singer of The Rolling Stones with the band still going strong after sixty-plus years, but he has a strong connection to Glasgow where he has performed on numerous occasions which has etched his name into the city’s history which is what we want to look back on.

Having only released their debut single ‘Come On’ in June 1963 which was a cover of Chuck Berry’s track, the band headed to Glasgow in October of that year to play two gigs in one night at the Odeon Theatre on their first British tour. The tour had kicked off a month previous in London with it being a package that included other performances from Little Richard and Bo Diddley. The band took time out of their busy schedule to head to McCormack’s Music store which had recently relocated to Bath Street with the Stones being booked for the official re-opening.

Chaos ensued with so many people turning up to see the band that the shop had to be closed in fear of a crush with Glaswegian’s having already taken the band to heart in the early days. They returned the following year to play at Glasgow’s legendary Barrowland Ballroom before playing several other gigs through the sixties at the Odeon Theatre on Renfield Street as they shot to stardom.

The venue best associated with the Stones in Glasgow is the Apollo Theatre where they first performed at when it was known as Green’s Playhouse in 1971 after a five-year hiatus from the city. In total, the band performed six times at the Apollo between 1973 and 1982 before the building closed three years later. One of the most famous images of Jagger in Glasgow was taken during his time at the Central Hotel in 1976 when the Stones played three sold out shows in the city with him being pictured alongside Bayern Munich’s Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller ahead of the 1976 European Cup Final which was taking place at Hampden Park.

Another famous Glasgow landmark that Jagger was spotted in was Ubiquitous Chip where local legend has it that he visited on the same day as Princess Margaret.

Since their final Apollo gig, the band has only appeared in Glasgow on four occasions playing at the SECC and Hampden Park which is where their last Glasgow concert was 17 years ago on the A Bigger Bang tour. That has meant that I had to make do with seeing the Rolling Stones perform at Murrayfield, but fortunately had the privilege of seeing the band at Hyde Park last summer to celebrate their sixtieth anniversary.

A new album from the band could be on the way later this year, and if they do decide to tour it’s most definitely, haste ye back Mick!