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THE FULL HISTORY OF THE MICK JAGGER & MARSHA HUNT (A.K.A.”BROWN SUGAR”) RELATIONSHIP! (PART 2)

In Part 1 of the thread, it explained how the Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and singer/actress Marsha Hunt met, the ins-and-outs of their year-long courtship, and how Mick was basically the one who followed her and asked her to have his baby. But their relationship eventually turned sour once Marsha gave birth to his first child, Karis, born in November 1970. In this second part, you’ll understand the fallout between them that lasted well over a decade.

After Marsha’s altercation with Mick (when he claimed he never loved her and threatened to take her nearly two week-old baby away) things started to get put into perspective for her. And though she relished in being a mother to her sweet, yet lively baby, who she mostly spoke to in Black vernacular/AAVE and nicknamed “Pookie”, the new role really whipped her into shape.

Marsha claimed, “I was able then to support myself and my daughter,” but she explained to Mick, who she was still in touch with, “I don’t need your help now, but if I ever do, I expect to be able to come to you.”

Although he made some early efforts at involvement with the baby (who, according to one associate, “looked remarkably like Mick”), he ultimately turned all his attention to his new girlfriend, Bianca Pérez-Mora Macías.

While Marsha was very attentive to her child and thrived off being there for her every need, Mick was gearing up for another tour and was still occasionally seeing other women, including his then personal chef, Janice Kenner, and occasional girlfriend, soul singer and Ikette, Claudia Lennear, while courting his girlfriend, Bianca.

Pretty much all references to Marsha and the baby were quickly airbrushed out of his life. Another one of his ‘hoes,’ Californian model and former flame of Eric Clapton, Catherine James, also claimed: “When I moved into Mick’s house, I knew about Marsha, but his relationship with her was already over. It didn’t seem a big deal to him. He just mentioned that she was a girl he had met who had got pregnant. He said he wasn’t in love with her, but she was very talented.” She also stated, “I felt he was not encumbered by anything, not by Marsha or the baby. He was young, and I didn’t get the impression he was thinking seriously about becoming a father and being part of this child’s life.”

[BELOW: Marsha photographed with her newborn baby, Karis, in 1971.]

Though she couldn’t go on the road yet, Marsha went right back to work after Karis was born. She lived frugally, hoping to get more work in the coming months to ease her escalating money troubles. She quickly realized just how expensive it was to have a newborn, so in order to pay her rent, a nanny, and for diapers and formula, she took the first job that came her way. After a sudden fire and ceiling collapse shut down the run of “Hair”, she took a role in another musical called “Catch My Soul,” a rock version of Othello. Originally singer Marianne Faithfull was to play a character in the show called “Desdemona” which was the same name of the Marc Bolan song Marsha had released in 1969, and ironically, the name of the character Marsha played was “Bianca.”

At this time, Marsha also had to be more cautious with journalists. They always wanted to turn her profiles into a risque discourse on “love without marriage” and brand her baby a “love child”. She refused to mention Mick in her interviews and avoided all questions about her baby's father.

Meanwhile, Mick and the rest of the Stones moved to France in April 1971 because the income tax in England was so high at the time (it was a 93% supertax imposed by the government on the country's top earners). In fact, they all owed about £100,000 each, so to pay it back, they had to leave. Marsha had known since 1969 that they had financial problems and tax exile was planned.

Before Mick left, he asked Marsha to have her nanny bring their baby, whom he hadn't seen since their argument in November 1970. She always made it clear through their mutual contacts that he could see his child whenever he wished or have her visit him with her nanny.

[BELOW: Mick arriving in Paris, France with the Rolling Stones in 1971.]

Bianca became pregnant a little over a month after Karis was born, and Marsha hoped (naively) that his second baby would remind him of his first.

Several weeks after Karis visited him, Mick and Bianca, who was already 4 months pregnant at the time, got married in a shotgun wedding that took place on May 12, 1971 in St. Tropez, France.

The wedding was a complete circus (from beginning to end). None of the Rolling Stones members attended, except for Keith Richards, Mick even invited his ex-girlfriend and the first woman he ever impregnated, soul singer P.P. Arnold (a detail Bianca wasn’t privy to). Right before the wedding, Bianca also discovered that according to French law, she and Mick had to make clear “what property they held in common.” It was only then that she learned how little this was and threatened to call it off, but eventually relented.

The entire event was a skin-crawling spectacle with Mick and Bianca sweating and pushing their way through crowds of pressmen, photographers, people on holiday, and rubberneckers.

Marsha’s nanny was watching the news report of his wedding and started to cry. Marsha thought, “Girl, save those tears for something more important!”...but of course, she kept quiet!

NONE of the Rolling Stones (or their wives/girlfriends), the brand’s close camp, and the many people who worked for Mick actually liked Bianca and often described her as cold, aloof, pompous, and extremely difficult to get along with. No one really knew anything about her: what she did for a living, her actual age, or even why she refused to speak Spanish even though she was Nicaraguan. She also despised the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle (so, why’d you marry the motherfucker then? 🤔), which put A LOT of people off. She was a bit of a snob and even referred to the guys in the band as “The Nazi Party”!

[BELOW: Mick & Bianca during their bizarre wedding reception in 1971.]

Anyway, back to Marsha! When “Catch My Soul” ended its run, Marsha embarrassingly took a job appearing in a German soft-drink commercial, which she never considered doing a commercial before, but she needed to make extra cash to pay her bills.

Marsha even had to let go of her nanny and her cleaner who came by a few days a week to help her. She lived from day-to-day and tried not to think of the future.

[LEFT: Marsha in the rock musical “Catch My Soul”; RIGHT: Marsha photographed for a Afri-Cola soft drink commercial.]

Months later, Mick out of the blue, invited Marsha and Karis to see him at his new house, which was a huge palatial mansion with many spare rooms in the south of France. But at the very last minute, she was told by his longtime driver, Alan Dunn, that she wouldn't actually be staying at his house, but instead with Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and his fiancé because she wasn’t “allowed” there and because Bianca “didn’t want some woman her husband used to sleep with in her house.” (What a fucking BITCH!!!) A biographer once claimed that Bianca, who was “Catholic,” had always felt disadvantaged by Marsha because she had Mick first and mothered his eldest child, so this was one of many examples of her taking the “upper hand.”

Marsha also discovered firsthand that her friend, Mick Taylor, had fallen into a serious drug addiction after joining the Rolling Stones which she felt guilty about since she was the one who suggested him as the replacement guitarist for the band 2 years earlier.

When Marsha finally arrived at Mick Jagger’s house, she saw him and a very pregnant Bianca who almost looked like she was Black at first glance. The both of them showed her no hospitality and had no manners. In fact they were EXTREMELY rude at the dinner table: cuddling, nuzzling, murmuring, and only talking to each other in French while completely ignoring Marsha and Karis as though they didn’t exist and were there to see someone else. It felt like he was deliberately trying to humiliate her. Now, whether or not he staged the whole charade to spite and embarrass Marsha and show off his new pregnant wife, or to prove to the jealous Bianca that he was indifferent to Marsha, it was nonetheless, a shocking, disgusting, and unnecessary display.

Before Marsha left she begged him to “loan” her £200 to get by, to which he grudgingly wrote out a check. (Like, why does she even have to ask you for these things?! 🤔) He couldn’t even look her in the eye during her entire visit as Marsha claimed, “I guess he couldn’t.”

[BELOW: Mick with Marsha holding 8-month old Karis in her arms during a trip to visit him at his sunwashed villa in France in 1971.]

Later on, Marsha was still having a really hard time getting work, and her expenses were really racking up. She lost a part in a film with Sidney Poitier because she couldn’t afford a baby-sitter and had to bring Karis along to her audition.

She also regularly saw Mick in newspapers living the high life and wondered if he’d lost his integrity or would lose her mind thinking if he had any in the first place. When she was unsure, she’d re-read his old letters and they reassured her that he was capable of humanity and that their friendship wasn't a figment of her imagination.

When baby Karis spent her first birthday on the set of “Dracula AD 1972,” Marsha had the studio chef bake a big pink-and-white cake for her and Mick even had a handsome rocking horse delivered to her.

For a while, she and Mick were still somewhat ‘friends’...but the whole situation was still awkward.

[BELOW: Marsha on the set of “Dracula A.D. 1972” with her good friend, actress Stephanie Beacham & director Alan Gibson celebrating her daughter Karis’ 1st birthday in November 1971.]

Even after the birth of Mick’s second daughter, Jade Sheena Jezebel Jagger, in October 1971 (they named her Jade because Mick claimed “she is very precious”…”and quite, quite perfect!” 🙄), Marsha naively thought it would get some sense knocked into him. He actually once invited her to bring Karis to be photographed with Jade at his other house at Cheyne Walk, but he only seemed to take interest in Jade.

Strangely, Mick doted on Jade as much as he ignored Karis. The fool even bragged, “I’m a terrific dad. Jade is a fantastic kid, a lovely baby, very sweet and good tempered…I’ve always been a good father, and the kid makes it easy to be that way.”

Jade’s nanny at the time, Sally Arnold, even said that Mick enjoyed fatherhood and was eager to take lessons in baby care claiming, “He’d come in and watch me bathing her and changing her nappies (diapers) and he’d ask me to show him how to do it and he'd do it. He was a real hands-on father.”

Bianca on the other hand, was not the maternal type and would act quite awkwardly toward Jade, at times lifting her like a bowling ball and even once dropped her down the stairs. She also often complained of the “tremendous strain” of being a mom: “Nobody knows what a strain it is to keep a house, look after Jade, and be dressed properly all the time.”

According to friends, it seemed Bianca spent less time with Jade than Mick did and often left her with a nanny because she liked to socialize at parties and events, or go to the hottest discotheque in town.

Jade Jagger even once said in an interview many years later that her mother refused to breastfeed her and because of her parents’ high-profile, globe-trotting careers, they both treated her more like a “mascot” that they had to fit into their lifestyles, rather than a daughter.

[BELOW: Mick & Bianca photographed at home holding newborn Jade with their nanny, Sally Arnold, in late 1971.]

In 1972, Marsha eventually put a new band together called 22, but was put on a small retainer with her new label, and as the leader, most of her money went to her band, equipment, management, travel, and hotel accommodations for Karis and a traveling nanny. Going back on the road meant she had to ask Mick to chip in on the £600 needed for a nanny to go on tour with her and the baby. Mick was also getting ready to go on an American tour with the Stones to support their latest album, Exile on Main St., that was expected to gross over $4 million.

[BELOW: Mick Jagger during the Rolling Stones’ 1972 north American tour which grossed over a then-record of $4 million.]

As always, Mick NEVER offered her money, and she only called him as a last resort because the idea of asking him for anything made her sick. It was also very expensive for her to even track him down by phone wherever he was around the world.

Later on, while at a cafe during her tour in Germany with her band, 19-month old Karis accidentally scolded herself with extremely hot tea and had to be rushed to the hospital, but it took her hours to find an emergency doctor who would accept her because she was Black and who spoke English to treat the burns. When Mick finally phoned and asked if he could help, she asked if he could split the hospital bill with her which was £75. He promised to send it but it never arrived. Karis was finally admitted to an army base hospital and had to stay for 10 days, to which Marsha missed a few gigs. This resulted in her having to skip out on paying the bill. She felt absolutely horrible because they had been so nice to her. It seemed ungrateful. Yet, she didn’t hear from Mick again until after his tour ended.

When she finally met up with Mick, she asked why he hadn’t forked up the cash to help their daughter, he “playfully” said that she “probably would have bought shoes with the money.”

BRUUUH...Marsha was like:

This incensed her, because first of all…HOW FUCKING DARE YOU?! Like, you can’t be serious. Second of all, she thought, “When’d you ever know me to be frivolous with money”?

…MARSHA HAD ENOUGH!! 😡😡😡

She was fed up with Mick’s bullshit and trying to chase him down for an occasional handout. So, she FINALLY consulted with her band’s lawyer and asked him how she could go about setting up an emergency fund for her daughter, but he explained that the only legal right the child had to contributions to her welfare was through a paternity suit, since Karis wasn’t conceived through marriage (as English law was very unkind to single mothers).

Marsha explained that Mick acknowledged that he was Karis' father. The issue was parental neglect. Her lawyer reconfirmed that there was no other legal alternative to her predicament but a paternity suit. She wanted to vomit. She asked him to follow the necessary procedure and to go about it in a way that would keep it confidential and out of the newspapers. Marsha also knew that a paternity suit had negative connotations and it didn’t really approach the problem. She just wanted her kid to have what she needed.

To serve a writ did not mean that it had to be filed in court, if Mick was prepared to act reasonably. But to postpone service, meant that they would have to wait for Mick to come to England again. There was no way of knowing when that would be as he was based abroad. After 2 years, she had to stop lying to herself and pretending that he would do the right thing.

Later on, Marsha met Mick on the long steps of the Albert Memorial, near the same spot she told him she was pregnant years earlier. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she believed that in spite of his horrible behavior, somewhere there was still a friend.

They walked arm-in-arm through the park (really to calm him). The issue of the baby and his responsibility to her was serious. She needed things and his pretense that he didn't have to help had to be confronted.

If his jet-set life made the situation seem remote, it was understandable. So, Marsha suggested that he put aside a trust fund for the Karis’ future education and any emergencies. It could be administered by trustees and she could avoid asking him personally for help when it was needed. A £25,000 trust fund seemed adequate and he'd be free of any further financial responsibility.

After their walk, they sat in a nearby pub and Mick said he would put £20,000 in a trust for his daughter. She was relieved that they were able to find a solution without a lawsuit or unnecessary animosity.

As they parted, she assured him that he was more than welcome to see his child whenever he wanted. But by the time their solicitors spoke later that evening, Mick (like the cheap bastard he is) had reduced the trust investment once again to £17,000.

When Karis turned 2 years old, Marsha invited her half-sister Jade, who she thought was precious, to her birthday party. The fact that Mick and Bianca let her come with her nanny suggested that things were alright between them.

During this time, a very simple and straightforward trust agreement was drawn up by her solicitor. But after many months of letters and asking for signatures and funds, it still hadn’t been signed and no money was available. It NEVER happened!

[BELOW: Marsha traveling and at home with her daughter Karis in 1972.]

Marsha could only think Mick and his solicitor wanted the lawsuit, which she finally had to proceed with. On July 16, 1973, the affiliation order was filed. The hearing was set, but when it hit the newspapers it stank. Unlike their secret affair, the case was very public and unpleasant. People were shocked that Mick Jagger had possibly had a child with a Black woman.

Keep in mind, up until that time no one outside of their close circle really knew about Mick and Marsha’s relationship, so the story was reported as though Marsha had suddenly appeared with a 2 year old child out of nowhere to accuse Mick, who was a huge rockstar, of paternity.

Mick was reportedly furious that Marsha went public with the allegations and was quoted saying, “I’m not upset for myself. It’s just that my mother didn’t know, and she gets upset about this sort of publicity. Why did Marsha have to be so bloody silly? It wasn’t as though I was going to leave her and Karis to starve!”

In the whirlwind of publicity that followed, Mick denied paternity and, in an effort to stall legal proceedings, insisted on a blood test—thus implying that Marsha was promiscuous. Marsha, meanwhile, was portrayed as a home-wrecking gold-digger. Mick, stung by what he viewed as Marsha’s “betrayal,” sarcastically suggested that she had gone public merely to hype her own flagging career.

Marsha thought it was interesting that in contrast to “groupies” whose connections to rockstars gave them an elevated status, her relationship with Mick made her a pariah.

Paparazzi and photographers staked out in front of her home, so she had to hide out at a house her band stayed at until the headlines died.

Afterwards, Marsha wanted to be less visible and more incorporated in her band’s image, so she decided to cut off all of her famous hair. British Vogue even wanted her to cover the event. The magazine’s photoshoot also included her daughter Karis, who the public had never seen before.

[LEFT: Marsha with newly cropped hair; RIGHT: Marsha & Karis photographed for Vogue UK; BOTTOM: Marsha promoting her band, 22.]

There was no doubt that the suit affected how people perceived her. And when the media asked Mick to make another statement, he snidely asked if Marsha hadn’t had a new record released. He wanted to imply that that paternity suit was a publicity ploy, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Mick’s wife Bianca was also asked about the suit and was quoted saying that she “didn’t give a damn.” Marsha of course said NOTHING!

In 1973, Marsha got a job as a host of a new late-night radio talk program for Capital Radio in London where she interviewed some big names; everyone from Barry White, Dionne Warwick, Bill Withers, Sarah Vaughan, and Stevie Wonder (who she chatted with for 3 ½ hours). The show was a success and expanded her public profile, and among the chaos of her personal life, she developed a reputation as a smart woman who conducted compelling interviews with guests.

For Marsha, hosting a radio show was extremely hard work. She had to do extensive research, stay abreast on current issues, learn about projects interviewees were releasing - all with no formal training or experience. She was also running on about 3 hours of sleep everyday, yet still found time to spend with her daughter who liked going to Regents Park in London to feed the geese.

[BELOW: Marsha during her stint as a chat show host for Capital Radio, 1973.]

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Marianne Faithfull was also one of the guests she interviewed during her Sunday-night program, while she was appearing in a play called “The Collector” in the West End. Marsha thought she'd had an interesting career, which at that time encompassed music, theater, and film. And when she went to her theater dressing room, her new boyfriend, Oliver Musker, wanted to go to the cinema while they taped the interview. He didn't have any money, so Marsha lent him some. The interview was successful. Neither of them mentioned Mick before, during, or after their chat, but he did have the audacity to write to Marsha and say that he liked it the interview.

[BELOW: Marsha with her daughter Karis in 1973.]

In addition to her talk show, Marsha also had to DJ a Black music spot on Saturday nights, which included R&B, soul, as well as reggae. One strange interview was with Bob Marley, who wasn’t a household name yet. She couldn’t understand a word he was saying because of his heavy Jamaican accent and he pretty much sexually assaulted her while on the job as he kept feeling on her legs, even when she kindly asked him to stop and he wouldn’t. 🤢 He even left his little green, weed-smelling Rasta cap for her when he departed.

But, during yet another interview with the writer and novelist Gore Vidal, Marsha found out that Bianca, Mick’s wife, was going around talking shit about her to him and other random people. This was after the paternity suit.

[LEFT: Marianne Faithfull with her boyfriend, Oliver Musker; MIDDLE: Reggae singer Bob Marley in London 1973; RIGHT: Writer Gore Vidal in 1973.]

Marsha was still working at Capital when the lawsuit came up for a second time. Mick was not at the 6 November 1973 hearing, when the case drew sensational headlines.

In spite of her work, Marsha lived a very normal life and even the mundanities of it were affected by this kind of press. People all around would be cold toward her and give her nasty looks. Even mothers at Karis’ nursery school who had been friendly before avoided her because Mick was everybody’s hero. I mean, he was the frontman of the Rolling Stones for Christ sake! So in turn, her phone stopped ringing, which didn’t surprise her at all.

Though, by Mick denying paternity, he again insinuated that Marsha was sleeping with other men when Karis was conceived (which of course she wasn’t). Therefore, it was Marsha who stood accused, and Karis was the one being punished, because whatever the father's means, a child born to unmarried parents only had a right to only £5 a week in maintenance from him.

Her solicitor advised her to accept the out-of-court settlement. The best offer that Mick would make was £500 pounds a year (£9 pounds a week) and a £10,000 trust fund that Karis would get after she finished school. BUT…this was offered by Mick and his lawyers ONLY if Marsha agreed to sign an actual fucking affidavit stating that Mick wasn’t the father. (THE AUDACITYYYYY!!!)

Extremely desperate, Marsha caved in to his demands and agreed to sign. And even though court proceedings started in 1972, Marsha didn’t see a damn dime until 1975.

[BELOW: Mick & Marsha in the mid-1970s.]

Instead of feeling angry and becoming hard-shelled, Marsha was completely humiliated. She felt like there was no justice in the world. After Mick’s paternity denial, Marsha didn’t allow any photographs of her daughter to be taken and shunned away from the press completely.

When her contract with Capital came up for renewal, she decided to step out of local radio. She was pretty much a token there during that new era of radio because she was Black and a woman, and she also found she didn’t like delving into people's personal lives and corralling them into self exposure. It felt hypocritical of her.

After that, Marsha’s agent booked her some singing gigs in Portugal and other parts of Europe. Then in 1976, she went back to performing in theater in England.

To make ends meet and to assure that her daughter had everything she needed, Marsha stayed in a tiny rundown unit catered to up-and-coming actors that had no central heating, no phone and was unbearably cold, especially in the winters. She called her daughter Karis every single day and during her time off, she rushed home by train to see her.

In 1977, after cutting a new disco record with a German label, Marsha moved back to Los Angeles to find a distribution deal and swapped her London flat with a journalist who was living in Hollywood at the time (as she saw no end to the problems that had been created in England through the paternity suit). Marsha claimed she went from being “the girl from Hair” to “the girl who sued Mick Jagger”.

It was difficult for her to sustain a recording career due to her lack of desired Black female vocal style. No one really understood her music because like how dare a Black woman get up on a stage and not sound like Aretha Franklin?! She later quit the music business, having promised herself that this would be her last go, stating, “Music was only acceptable as a career if it could provide us with an income.” She redirected her creative energies to acting and writing and tried to find more work, but the market was quite different for her in America as the industry only saw her as one-dimensional (i.e. “Black and female”) - a reason she mostly stuck to theater. It was still the Blaxploitation era in film, and most roles for Black auditioning actresses were far, few, and somewhat degrading. I mean, how many fucking times can you play a stereotypical part like a slave, a hooker, a nurse, or a gun-slinging, jive-talking stone fox before it chips away at your integrity and diminishes your artistry?!

That summer, Marsha was informed by Karis' school teacher that her daughter's test scores were through the roof and that she was far more advanced than other children in her class and age group. So, they suggested that she should be put in a school for the gifted.

Karis needed special attention, which her old school or nannies couldn’t provide, so Marsha had her enrolled at an expensive special school that was 12 miles away from where they stayed (she would often see Tina Turner walking her dogs along the way) so she wouldn’t be deprived.

While in L.A., Marsha also stayed with an old friend, musician John Mayall, who adored her daughter and was kind enough to give her room and board while she readjusted to being back in the U.S.

Around this time, Bianca was known as a socialite, (even though she once told journalist Geraldo Rivera that she was an “actress” - shit, I ain’t never seen her in anything!) and was always seen at the latest movie premiere or nightclubs like Studio 54 in NYC petting doves and shit, and would constantly spend Mick’s money on diamonds, furs, and trips. She never showed concern for her step-daughter Karis and NEVER once asked about her or her welfare.

[LEFT & RIGHT: Bianca with Mick living the high life in the mid-1970s.]

On the other hand, Mick was known to cheat on Bianca who was a stink, stuck up bitch and engaged in many affairs with various women, including famous names like rock & roll groupie Bebe Buell, singer Carly Simon, singer Ava Cherry, supermodel Pat Cleveland, and the daughter of actor/comedian Tommy Chong, Rae Dawn Chong who, unbeknownst to Mick, was actually 15 years old at the time.

Mick was even under the impression that he was the father of Bebe Buell's daughter Liv (born on July 1, 1977). He had the audacity to call her the next day saying, “I’m coming over to see my child.” Within hours, Mick and Rolling Stones guitarist, Ron Wood, literally were one of the first to show up in the maternity ward to visit. (Dude, don’t you already have a real daughter to worry about? 🤔 The NEVRE!!!) Eventually Bebe informed him Liv's father was Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.

[LEFT to RIGHT: Notorious rock & roll “groupie” Bebe Buell, backing singer & girlfriend of David Bowie, Ava Cherry, supermodels Pat Cleveland & Jerry Hall, and actress Rae Dawn Chong.]

Marsha still occasionally kept in touch with Mick through her agent/mutual friend who set up their contact.

After Mick separated from Bianca, he started living with his new girlfriend who he previously had an affair with, Texan model Jerry Hall.

Jerry was actually a very delightful and cheerful woman. Unlike Bianca who was serious most of the time, Jerry was always smiling and was very southern and fun to be around. She was also the one who prompted Mick to spend more time with his daughter, Karis.

That’s why in 1978, even though she was informed by a mutual friend that Mick was still heavily using hard drugs, Marsha still agreed to arrange for them to spend a day together while he was in L.A. At that time, he hadn’t seen his daughter Karis in FIVE YEARS.

[BELOW: Jerry Hall, 7-year old Karis & Mick in Los Angeles, 1978.]

Weirdly enough, in that same year, Mick also wrote the title song for the Rolling Stones album called Some Girls, which many believe alludes to Marsha with the lyrics:

Black girls just wanna get fucked all night I just don't have that much jam

AND…

Some girls so corrupt Some girls give me children I only made love to her once

[BELOW: The Rolling Stones song, “Some Girls” released in 1978.]

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The song’s lyrics were deemed so degrading that many Black radio stations refused to play it, along with any other single from the album, due to its sexist and racist nature. Jesse Jackson, who was running for president at the time, even called for a boycott!

It’s funny, but Marsha always gave Karis a good impression of her father and wanted her to be proud of him even though he disrespected her constantly. When Karis got to the age when she became curious about who her father was (she even once asked if he was dead) Marsha told her the truth. If a Rolling Stones song played on the radio, Marsha would say, “That’s your daddy you know!” Mick had made great contributions to rock ‘n’ roll music and she always explained that his absence had something to do with his feelings for her and not Karis.

After Mick and Marsha got in touch during his visit to L.A., he realized that she was in over her head sending Karis to a school for gifted children, but as always didn’t offer to help.

Financially, Marsha was committed way beyond her means, and after house-sitting for another friend, she had to face her situation. Two promising deals she was looking forward to fell through, and even though the disco record that she cut for the German label was popular on the gay discotheque scene, her earnings didn’t cover enough for her to survive. So, she conceded that she was down to collecting social security.

She found asking for a handout, when all she wanted was a job, was absolutely demoralizing and she felt indignant at what her life had become. She was no longer a singer or an actress, she was Black-female-unemployed, another file number, another statistic.

She filled out endless forms before she came to a snag. She then realized she couldn't get any government assistance or food stamps without supplying the name of her child's father so that someone could contact him about support payments. Now, imagine a West L.A. social security employee trying to get Mick Jagger on the phone. The government had to try with a mother's cooperation to get a father to provide maintenance through a paternity suit if necessary. This wasn't an irrational requirement. But she knew that there was no other way that she could put Mick's name on a social security aid form without fanfare.

This time around, a second case would affect their daughter Karis, who was older and couldn’t be shielded. She wanted her to fully understand what was going on and what might happen, especially at school, if she took Mick to court again. So, she talked it over with her and let Karis decide.

Marsha also had to consider how another lawsuit would affect her family, including her brother who was a respected music journalist at the Los Angeles Times newspaper, and how they might be dragged across the mud along with her (especially since she’s a woman). No matter how much she wanted to avoid another paternity suit, it was her duty as a mother to acquire whatever security she could for her daughter so that if something happened to her, if she dropped dead, Karis would be provided for.

There was no question of her destitution (she was still only receiving £9 pounds a week from Mick), but before the caseworker approved her application, she sent Marsha to the local DA’s office for help in trying to get more child support from Mick. In the preliminary paternity suit hearings that were scheduled, Marsha sought $2,190 per month in child support payments.

Marsha claimed, “It’s not like a normal child with an absent father…Mick’s there every time you turn on the radio or see a magazine cover. If Karis has got to suffer that, I don’t think she should also have to suffer being suddenly poverty-stricken,” She also said. “It’s been difficult to keep her from becoming bitter when he seems to give his energy and money to other women but not to his daughter. We’re talking about a minute amount of money to someone who earns a lot.”

After talking with the welfare worker and the DA, she got legal advice from two lawyers before she approached a third. She went to celebrity lawyer, Marvin Mitchelson, the paladin of paramours, who promptly sued Mick to establish his paternity, to get Karis child support, and to restrain his promoters from paying him his share of gate proceeds from two July shows he had in Anaheim with the Rolling Stones.

The case carried on for months and she was advised to settle out of court once again. She told her lawyer that she couldn’t accept another settlement because Mick’s contributions towards their child’s well-being wasn’t the only issue any longer. She wanted his paternity legally confirmed however long it took. Karis had a right to know that Mick was indeed her father.

I mean, Mick was pasted on people’s walls, sang out from the radio, and peered at her from magazine covers. People would talk about him while Karis sat in the room as if he had nothing to do with her. It was crazy!

When Marsha discovered that her lawyer had also taken on Bianca Jagger’s divorce, she wondered if he planned to drop her case, but he said he was able to represent them both. She felt uncomfortable about it but wasn’t in a position to quibble.

A few times Marsha was asked to sell her story to newspapers and magazines for quite a lot of money, but she wasn’t tempted at all. She just wanted Karis to think well of her father and wanted to feel that the settlement served him as much as it served her. She even wrote to him to let him know that what happened was past and he was still welcome to see Karis. She wanted to put the issue behind her so that she could carry on with her life.

After the case went to the Superior Court judge, the judge was like:

Mick eventually caved in, but not before bitterly attacking Marsha and making crude comments to the press that once again called Marsha’s integrity into question. When asked about her in 1978, he told a reporter for SOUL magazine, “She’s a hustler,” and that she was, “just out for publicity. Every time she comes to a low point and she can’t be bothered to get any work, she drags me around. She never even gives me a call to say ‘Please Mick, I want some money.’ I have no idea if that child is mine or not.”

In another interview, he stated, “She’s an idiot; she won't take any fuckin’ work…She’s a lazy bitch.” And, when asked how many children he had during the interview, Mick shrugged and said, “I don’t know. Not many.”

Marsha didn’t say anything. How could she say anything?! Mick Jagger is RICH, WHITE, and FAMOUS. Who was going to come to her defense?!

[BELOW: Mick & Marsha on the cover of SOUL magazine in October 1978.]

Little did “Mick Cannon” know that after driving their daughter to school every morning, Marsha would scurry off to do various housekeeping jobs to keep financially afloat. Luckily, she had a lot of famous friends and acquaintances in the business and would often clean their homes from top to bottom. Marsha said the work had dignity, and it kept her from borrowing money from other people.

She sort of felt like she was doing him a favor. That while he was behaving badly, she was doing two things for him: taking immaculate care of the daughter that they planned and had TOGETHER and leaving the door open, so that when he was ready to come back, he could.

Marsha also thought he was kind of a fool, and once claimed that “When he gets older, and the fame dies, and he looks around at his life and all he has is his children....he’ll regret this.”

[BELOW: Mick & Marsha in numerous headlines on their second paternity suit published in the press in 1978.]

At the end of January 1979, paternity was cleared with a blood test and maintenance was ordered which was stated, may not be disclosed. It was enough to keep Karis in school at the time.

There was no lump sum and it wasn’t retroactive, as most people imagined. Every cent went to Karis. But Marsha knew that if she didn’t get work soon, she’d be in financial trouble again.

In spite of the lawsuit Marsha was also able to keep Karis’ picture out of the newspaper and protect her right to a normal childhood.

Later that year, Marsha started dating actor Robert De Niro who accosted her at a hotel when she was picking up a friend, and was estranged from his wife. She didn’t know who he was at first, but she remembered his face from a film called the “Godfather II.”

While her friends from Fleetwood Mac went on tour, their producer asked Marsha and Karis to pet sit his baby boa constrictor who she ended up keeping. Around this same time, a British newspaper called the Daily Mail ran a third-page article about Marsha which read as if she had been interviewed. It headlined an accusation about Mick as a quote from her even though she never spoke to them and it was a total fabrication. She went to a solicitor to force a retraction, but it cost a lot of time and money to sue a newspaper for libel. She got absolutely nowhere.

Additionally, in 1979, Bianca Jagger did an interview for The Telegraph saying that “Mick is avoiding taxes in every country in the world and he has 13 lawyers helping him to do it. Why should I be denied my freedom and a decent allowance for the sake of his tax situation? Then I read in the papers that Marsha Hunt had been awarded the same sum from Mick in her paternity suit (that’s a damn LIE) that I, his legal wife 🙄, am given to bring up our daughter and run the house. I felt fed up, furious. It was at that point that Mitchelson called me from Los Angeles and offered to help me. He likes women. He has a sense of justice. He made me see that if Mick wants a fight, I must use the same weapons.”

FYI, Bianca ended up receiving over £1 million in her divorce settlement with Mick, while Marsha got around $6,000 a year.

[BELOW: Bianca Jagger and her mean face on the cover of The Telegraph Sunday Magazine in 1979.]

Marsha hotfooted all around the world, from LA to Australia and back to London and the U.S again, continuing to write songs and gigging with a band she put together called Martha and the Vendettas (which was a play on her favorite group Martha and the Vandellas), even though they made little to no money at all.

Taking care of Karis was her #1 priority, as she was a very bright and congenial child. She had loads of friends, loved playing outside and scraping her knees, ate sloppy Joes, went to summer camp, and lived an extremely normal life growing up for the most part in America. Most people wouldn’t even know that she was the firstborn child of the biggest rockstar in the world.

[BELOW: Some EXTREMELY rare photos of Mick and Marsha’s daughter, Karis, throughout the mid 1970s into the early 1980s.]

In 1982, Marsha started work on a film called, “Britannia Hospital,” which was a British black comedy starring Malcolm McDowell (a.k.a Alex DeLarge from “A Clockwork Orange”). This is when she also met singer Sting, lead singer of the English rock band, The Police, who was working on a film. They became really close friends and she even stayed at his home for a while. Marsha was also the person who arranged backup singers for him when he went on tour with The Police a year later.

“Britannia Hospital” was well received, so much so that it was entered into the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, in which Marsha was invited. It was there she realized that mostly all people wanted to know about her was her relationship with Mick.

She didn’t want to talk about him at all. It felt like she was losing herself and it scared her. After years of working so hard, all the failures and all that happened with Mick, Marsha started to gain a lot of weight and eventually had a mental breakdown and had to seek professional help.

[BELOW: Marsha at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival and being interviewed about Mick.]

Mick had just gotten off the European leg of his “Tattoo You” tour with The Rolling Stones and was kinda beefin’ with the rest of the guys in the band. It would be 7 years until they toured again. So he had “extra” time on his hands at that point.

[BELOW: Mick performing during The Rolling Stones’ “Tattoo You” world tour.]

On Karis’ 12th birthday, Sting threw a little party for her and she got loads of presents from Marsha’s friends from The Police and The Who. And when she got home Mick surprised her with 3 large boxes wrapped in gleaming china-red paper that were waiting for her. It looked like Santa had made a November drop. He also phoned her from NYC to tell her “Happy Birthday” too. Marsha was happy and hoped that Mick would come through whatever had held him back all those years. Her intention was to smile and make him feel welcome.

That was it! No big apology. No “I’m sorry for how I treated you both.” He just eased back into their lives when the apology should’ve been as loud as the motherfucking disrespect!!!! ☕️☕️☕️

[BELOW: Marsha with her good friends, singer Sting of The Police and Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who.]

By 1983, Mick and Marsha were on decent terms and he even wanted her to be interviewed for an autobiography he was writing, which she agreed to do, but refused to show letters he had written to her in 1969.

A year after that, he and Jerry Hall were expecting their first child together, daughter Elizabeth Jagger, and that’s when the media finally started to see Mick out with his first child, Karis. Jerry would actually invite her to family events, holidays, and trips instead of treating her like a bald-headed step child. I guess after Mick had completely neglected her for 12 YEARS and having a new child on the way…it just wouldn’t look right!

Mick also made a statutory declaration to the Registrar-General in London, where a new birth certificate was entered which read ‘KARIS HUNT JAGGER’. By then, Mick (though not having custody) bore sole financial responsibility for Karis.

[BELOW: Karis with Mick and his “other” family in the mid-1980s.]

Mick and Marsha ended up enrolling Karis in a private secondary boarding school in the UK, Bedales, which he paid for, so she could be close to her father.

She also grew closer to Jade who was a bit wild and had a problem with authority. Jade was even once thrown out of her school for sneaking off on the middle of the night with a boy.

Karis on the other hand, was the total opposite. She was extremely shy, soft spoken (if she talked at all), and kind of ‘preppy.’ She learned French just like her dad a played two instruments, piano and the harp, which impressed Mick.

[BELOW: Marsha & Mick together with their daughter Karis during her christening at Bedales School in 1984.]

Once in a while, Mick would take Karis and Marsha out. They even once saw Beverly Hills Cop starring Eddie Murphy together. They sat in the front row and Mick had his arm on her thigh the whole time. Afterward, they walked to his car and someone snapped a photo of Mick and Marsha holding hands and she was like “Aw, hell. Here we go!” They later went to the very fancy and expensive Tour d’Argent restaurant for dinner, where people constantly came up to him asking for his autograph, and it was weird because it almost felt like they were…a “family”! But it was also in that moment she realized why she never married him. She couldn’t put up with the fanfare and playing second fiddle to anybody.

Later on, in 1985, an editor at a noted publishing house in England approached Marsha and asked if she would write a book about her life. Her initial response was, “Absolutely NOT!” She also said that, “Enough people had trashed my life in newspapers that I don’t want to participate in writing about my life.” She just thought they wanted to know about Mick Jagger: how hung he was or who she knew that he knew that maybe she could get some dirt on him. So, she said no she wouldn’t do it. But they were really interested in hearing what she had to say and what was individual about her life including the 60s rock scene. So she went away to write the book which was released in 1986.

[BELOW: The cover of Marsha Hunt’s autobiography “Real Life” which was released in 1986.]

Years later, when biographer Phillip Norman released a book about Mick, he said this of his relationship with Marsha Hunt in an interview: He’s a massive contradiction. He [Mick] can behave very well, and he can behave not very well…but that’s the prerogative of rockstars who don’t grow up. You can’t predict them. One minute they seem quite pleasant, the next minute they’re being completely horrible. They feel they have no control of their behavior.

Believe it or not, this is not where the story ends!!!

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sbrown82 · 1 year

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THE FULL HISTORY OF THE MICK JAGGER & MARSHA HUNT (A.K.A.”BROWN SUGAR”) RELATIONSHIP!!!

First, some background on the model, singer, actress, novelist, playwright, activist, icon, 60s goddess, and the woman who inspired one of the Rolling Stones’ greatest hits, “Brown Sugar”, Marsha Hunt. She is often described as London’s own Josephine Baker and is celebrating her 77th birthday today!:

Marsha Hunt was born on April 15, 1946 in Philadelphia, PA and is the youngest of 3 siblings. Her mother, Inez “Ikey” Hunt, worked in an airplane factory during World War II, and her father Blair Hunt Jr. graduated from Harvard and was one of America's first Black psychiatrists.

She was raised mostly by her mother, aunt and grandmother who had roots in the deep south (Mississippi delta) and who she’s described as an “extremely aggressive and ass-kicking independent woman.” Her father later committed suicide when she was 9 years old (but she never found out how or why).

After moving out west to California with her family, she graduated high school at the top of her class and later attended UC, Berkeley in the mid-60s where she wanted to study psychological anthropology.

While at Berkeley, she became friends with a slew of interesting people like activist Mario Savio and Huey P. Newton, who later became one of the founders of the Black Panther Party.

[TOP LEFT: Marsha’s mother Inez Hunt; TOP RIGHT: Marsha’s father, Blair Hunt Jr.; BOTTOM LEFT: Marsha at her home in Philly with her father & siblings, Pamala & Dennis; BOTTOM RIGHT: Marsha’s high school graduation photo in 1964.]

Even though she thrived academically and was very involved in student activities, she became bored with college life and wanted to experience life outside of the country and pursue her real passion – music. In early 1966, she sold her car and some books, and trailed off to London with only $1.83 in her pocket.

Around that time, London was THE city to be in, and was even dubbed “Swinging London” for being the epicenter of art, culture, fashion and of course music, especially due to the popularity of famous acts like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

When Marsha first arrived, she slept on the floors of mutual friends, took odd jobs (including one as an au pair), and even appeared as an extra in Michelangelo Antonioni's box office hit film, “Blow-Up,” which also featured the British rock band, the Yardbirds.

SHOCKINGLY, in that same year she actually saw the Rolling Stones for the first time during their UK tour at the Royal Albert Hall in London because she wanted to see Ike & Tina who were the supporting act on the bill. Girls were going crazy over the Stones, but of course, she was more impressed by Tina’s show-stopping performance! (Purrrrr 💅🏿)

[LEFT: Marsha in 1966; RIGHT: The Rolling Stones performing at the Royal Albert Hall in London with Marsha in attendance.]

After roaming the city, making new friends and trying to find steady work, Marsha ended up auditioning for a blues band fronted by British blues musician, Alexis Korner, who was looking for backup singers. Coincidentally, he was the exact same guy who gave the Rolling Stones their start back in 1962. Later on, she was offered another backing gig for Long John Baldry’s band, Bluesology. John is also a longtime friend of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Though she loved music and worked really hard at it, Marsha always claimed that she was never a good singer. People in England just assumed she was because they thought all Black Americans had talent.

She then lived with English blues singer, John Mayall, who actually wrote a few songs about her including, “Marsha’s Mood” and another song coincidentally called “Brown Sugar”. Around this time, she also became good friends with the founding members of Fleetwood Mac, famed British artist Kaffe Fassett, and keyboard player for Bluesology, Reg Dwight (a.k.a Elton John).

[LEFT: 19 year old Marsha sporting a wig in London; RIGHT: Marsha with a young Elton John].

Around the time Marsha broke things off with John, he was also putting a new band together, which included a young guitarist named Mick Taylor, who showed up at the audition without a guitar. He later became another good friend of Marsha’s.

In late 1966, Marsha met musician Mike Ratledge from the British rock band, Soft Machine. She was having trouble getting a visa extension to stay in England, so they got married on her 21st birthday. She later claimed it was a marriage in name only as they “never held hands and never kissed".

[LEFT: Guitarist Mick Taylor & John Mayall in the mid-60s; RIGHT: Marsha’s “husband” Mike Ratledge of Soft Machine.]

That same year, Marsha’s hair started to fall out from using chemical relaxers, and after wearing wigs for a while, she finally cut it all off and vowed to never straighten it again. Hence, she started sporting her iconic afro hairstyle making her quite a showstopper in London.

In 1968, she found luck when she was cast in a buzzy new rock musical with an ensemble cast called “Hair.” The musical became an instant hit in London’s famed West End. And even though her character “Dionne” only had two lines, she became the face (or the hair) of “Hair”. The show was a huge success, and also became quite a sensation and social landmark because it highlighted controversial subjects like drugs, casual sex, cursing, nudity, and anti-war rhetoric. While there, she met another close friend, actor Tim Curry.

[BOTTOM: A poster of the hit musical “Hair” that debuted in the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End, 1968.]

Her life completely changed overnight and she instantly became a PHENOMENON, attracting wide media attention. In fact, after the musical’s opening night, the editor of British Vogue sent her a huge bouquet of flowers and wanted her to pose for a photo session, which ended up being a 4-page spread with a written profile. Marsha was also the first Black woman to appear on the cover of Queen magazine as well.

[LEFT: Marsha pictured as the first Black woman on the cover of Queen magazine; RIGHT: Marsha photographed for British Vogue in 1969.]

She immediately became a sex symbol, celebrity, and the face of the “Black is Beautiful'' movement, which was already taking over America in the mid-60s. This helped her snag lots of modeling gigs and everyone wanted to photograph her. (I mean, sis was booked & busy!!!)

[BOTTOM: More of Marsha’s most iconic shots. *The melanin was melanating, 4C afro was on deck, eyelashes poppin’, lips bussin’...she was a *bad bitch*!!!]

In March 1969, she signed a contract with Track Records, the same independent label that also repped the British rock band, The Who and Jimi Hendrix, and later said, “There was one luxury that London celebrity afforded me: the freedom to be myself without a single apology for my gap, my freaked-out hair, my brown skin, my slave-class ancestors or my radical views.” Around this time, she also had a short love affair with Marc Bolan, the singer and founder of the English rock band, T-Rex (even though he was much shorter than her 😂.)

She scored a few minor hits during her underrated music career with singles like a cover of T-Rex’s “Desdemona” and her debut single, a cover of “Walk on Gilded Splinters”.

[BOTTOM: Marsha performing the T-Rex cover “Desdemona” live in 1970.]

The record soon went to the charts and that spring, she was asked to perform on various shows, including a popular British TV program called, “Top of the Pops” where during her live performance the tight bolero suede top she wore nearly came undone and partially exposed her breasts, giving her the reputation as a “bad girl.”

NOW…Here’s the part y’all have been waiting for. Get your popcorn. Y’all got it? Ready? Good!!! 🍿

After her performance aired, Marsha received a phone call out of the blue from Jo Bergman, the then secretary for the Rolling Stones on behalf of Mick Jagger who was actually watching live, asking her to pose semi–nude for a publicity photo to promote the band’s new single, “Honky Tonk Women”. She said, “The picture was going to be of a girl dressed like a sleaze bag standing in a bar with the Stones and they wanted me to be the girl.”

[BOTTOM: Marsha performing "Walk on Gilded Splinters” on ‘Top of the Pops’ in May 1969. This was also the exact moment Mick Jagger first laid eyes on her!]

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Marsha, who was not a Stones fan, was already established and didn’t really need the extra exposure. She declined because she had her reputation to think about and said she "didn't want to look like [she'd] just been had by all the Rolling Stones." She also claimed, “The last thing [Black women] needed was for me to denigrate us by dressing up like a whore” among a band of white men.

ENTER MICK JAGGER:

When she tried to get in touch with Mick to say, "thank you, but no thank you”, he later returned her call in an attempt to change her mind and suggested he come over as he was very intrigued that a girl would turn him down.

Mick then showed up at her apartment around midnight as she claims, “He was framed by the doorway as he stood grinning with a dark coat ... He drew one hand out of his pocket and pointed it at me like a pistol. His silly 'Bang' was precisely the icebreaker we needed to get over my ungracious hesitation before I invited him in, not sure how to salute a notorious rogue who rings me just before midnight and suggests he pop round on a pretext of loneliness.”

They talked for HOURS, well until the sun came up about any and everything from music to social issues and politics, and according to her, Mick “made me squeal whenever he used Melanigian slang (aka Black vernacular/AAVE)”. 🙄🤦🏾‍♀️

Marsha didn’t really find Mick physically attractive at first: “He wasn't beautiful or even striking” however, he was boyish, open, direct, yet seemed quite awkward and shy. She found it a relief that he was nothing like other musicians she’d known or the image the media had of him. He was charming, intelligent, funny, radical and straddled the racial line, much like she did. She also noticed that he had a penchant for Black women, as he claimed “they [Black women] just do something to me”.

The two of them just clicked right off the bat. And things eventually turned hot as they ended up having sex. From there, they embarked on a passionate, but very private, deep romance and year-long affair, at a time when interracial relationships weren’t widely accepted yet.

She didn’t expect to hear from him again, as he had a wide selection of women to choose from, but he wanted to see her and talk all the time because he could count on her. Marsha said, “He knew that I adored him and that he could depend on me…he realized I respected him as I respected myself.”

Mick’s friend and interior designer Christopher Gibbs once said often when he dined with Mick, women who had slept with him would come up to the table and “he’d have absolutely no idea who they were.”

[LEFT: Mick photographed at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London to see the new musical ‘Hair’ for the first time; RIGHT: Marsha performing in the show.]

1969 was a very rough year for Mick. He was having trouble with his band (which he was practically running by himself) because the founder and guitarist of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones, was becoming increasingly unreliable and spiraling out of control due to his deep drug addiction and legal troubles which led to him having problems getting a US work visa to go on an upcoming tour. His personal life was also a mess because his long-term girlfriend at the time, pop singer Marianne Faithfull, was also a very serious (and sloppy) drug addict, who often embarrassed Mick and became more difficult to be around. Things had gotten so bad between them, their relationship grew strictly platonic by this time.

Mick and Marianne were quite destructive together and often found themselves in legal troubles due to drugs. Marianne was also quite messy as she previously slept with Mick’s bandmates Brian Jones, Keith Richards and even left her husband, John Dunbar, for Mick who was dating Black soul singer & former Ikette, P.P. Arnold, when they met. P.P. later became pregnant with Mick’s baby in 1967, but had an abortion due to his growing relationship with Marianne.

[BELOW: Mick arriving at a courthouse with his then girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithfull in 1969.]

Marsha on the other hand, was stone-cold sober and didn’t do any drugs (NOT ONE), which was like a breath of fresh air for Mick, though he dabbled himself. But unlike those around him, he was able to control his habit.

Even though their relationship quickly turned sexual, they were really, really close friends. Mick often retreated to her home to relax, he told her all his secrets, his troubles – he just trusted her. He was completely enamored of Marsha, who many describe as warm, intelligent, sensitive, funny and very easy to talk to. He liked that she didn’t go gooey-eyed and weak-kneed in his presence like most (white) women/female fans did. Instead she had a crisply forthright manner and was almost quite “butch”. The Rolling Stones then manager was even quoted as saying that Mick was “obsessed” with her as she was very exotic and even gave her the nickname “Miss Fuzzy” due to her afro hairstyle.

Ironically, Marsha enjoyed their well-kept relationship and is one of the only people who often calls him Michael instead of Mick, to distinguish him from his Rolling Stones persona.

Since Marsha was a fellow recording artist, they could also be seen together in public without any arousing suspicion—in any case, London still had almost no paparazzi. They would often go to the same parties or events, even with Mick’s girlfriend there, and no one questioned it.

Mick would often pop into some of Marsha’s studio sessions with her band White Trash, and everyone around would be in awe of him.

After officially firing Brian Jones from the band, Mick and the rest of the Stones needed a new guitarist. Marsha promptly suggested her good friend, Mick Taylor (Yes, Stones fans – thank Marsha Hunt for that one!), as a replacement for Brian just days before his mysterious death (he sadly drowned in a swimming pool at his home) on July 3, 1969.

Additionally, when Mick sought a replacement for Jo Bergman, the secretary who handled all the Rolling Stones affairs, Marsha also suggested her friend and tour manager, Peter Rudge - (The same guy responsible for getting the Stones all those huge tours in massive stadiums. Again, thank Marsha!)

Two days after Brian’s death, the Stones played a free concert before a crowd of over 250,000 people in Hyde Park, London, which was previously planned to debut their new guitarist, but turned into a memorial/funeral for Brian. Mick invited both Marianne (who looked to’ up and was in withdrawal from heroin at the time), and Marsha (who showed up looking sexy af with titties bustin’ out of her buckskin suit) to the concert, and rudely and distastefully opened the show with a song called, “I’m Yours and I’m Hers.”

[BELOW: Mick & Marsha at the Rolling Stones tribute concert to Brian Jones in Hyde Park, London on July 5, 1969.]

Marianne who sat on the other end of the stage with her 4-year old son Nicholas and the other Stones wives/girlfriends, actually saw Marsha that day as she was placed right above the stage in the scaffold VIP section so Mick could look at her while he performed. She later said, “I saw her [Marsha] you know. And she was stunning…If I’d been Mick in that situation, I might have done exactly the same thing.”

Mick arrived at the concert with Marianne, but left with Marsha and spent the night at her place.

A day after the concert, Mick kissed Marsha goodbye, and flew with Marianne to Australia to shoot a biographical film they were both cast in called “Ned Kelly,” based on the infamous bushranger. However, Marianne who was reeling from the recent death of Brian Jones and a horrible miscarriage just a few months earlier, overdosed on 150 Tuinal barbiturates while traveling with Mick and fell into a coma in their hotel room.

[LEFT & RIGHT: Mick & Marianne arriving in Australia to film “Ned Kelly.” Marianne slipped into a coma just hours later from an attempted suicide.]

At the last minute, Mick was forced to film the movie without her, but phoned and wrote to Marsha, who was extremely frantic and worried about his mental health and emotional well-being, almost everyday. She was scared that he didn’t have the stamina to deal with yet another crisis. He sent Marsha over 10 handwritten letters (some even written on the same headed stationery paper of Chevron Hotel where his girlfriend just tried to kill herself) about his deep feelings for her, his experience filming, being in the Australian outback, his interests, the historic day of the moon landing of 1969, future career plans, his regret at missing her performance at the famous Isle of Wight Festival and other aspects of pop culture (including “…John & Yoko boring everybody…”). The letters also reference the recent death of Brian Jones, Mick’s increasingly difficult relationship with Marianne, and another letter even had the full original lyrics for the Rolling Stones song “Monkey Man”, which was later rewritten.

Mick’s letters also went on to mention the foul Australian winter weather and an unpleasant virus that swept through the unit, a fire that destroyed most of the film’s costumes, along with various accidents – including a prop gun that backfired in his right hand. He was just having a real shitty time. So, he found solace writing to Marsha.

His letters to Marsha showed how pensive and romantic he was. He said things like,“... I feel with you something so unsung there is no need to sing it...” and “If I sailed with you around the world, all my sails would be unfurled”. He also thanked her for being “so nice to an evil old man like me”. And in another steamy note, Mick promises Marsha: "I will kiss you softly. And bite your mouth too."

[RIGHT & LEFT: Photos of Mick’s private letters sent to Marsha while filming in Australia in the late summer of 1969.]

Mick also celebrated his 26th birthday while filming in Australia and Marsha sent him a huge package of books (which he loves) and albums, including her friend John Mayall’s record “Brown Sugar.” Along with it was a note stating how she missed him desperately.

While still trying to rehabilitate his hand from the prop accident, Mick toyed with a new guitar and started work on a song, which was partly inspired by Marsha, that he initially titled “Black Pussy.” He decided that was a little too direct and changed it to “Brown Sugar” with the lyrics:

[Verse 1]

Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields Sold in the market down in New Orleans Scarred old slaver knows he's doing alright Hear him whip the women just around midnight

[Chorus]

Brown sugar, how come you taste so good? Uh huh Brown sugar, just like a young girl should

[BOTTOM: Recording of “Brown Sugar” by The Rolling Stones later released on their Sticky Fingers album in 1971.]

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Mick later confirmed in a 1995 Rolling Stone magazine interview that the song is a double-entendre: “brown sugar” being the street name for unrefined heroin and of course – sex with a Black woman. The song was a huge commercial success and ended up becoming a #1 hit around the world, making it one of the Rolling Stones’ best-selling records.

[TOP: A movie poster of “Ned Kelly” which was released in June 1970; BOTTOM: Mick with his guitar composing “Brown Sugar” during filming.]

While Mick was still filming overseas, Marsha was booked to perform at the iconic 3-day outdoor concert, the Isle of Wight Festival on August 30th, 1969. It was the biggest open-air concert in music history and she was the only female singer billed to perform. She was there alongside acts like The Who, Joe Cocker and even Bob Dylan who hadn’t been onstage in 3 years.

Mick told her in a letter that he was so proud of her and promised her that he was “there in my head and in my heart.” Charlie Watts and his wife Shirley, Keith Richards and Jo Bergman were also in the audience watching Marsha perform.

Marsha also wore custom-made leather shorts to which the press ran with it and by the next fashion season, short shorts were featured. She was the first person to popularize “hot pants”.

[BELOW: Marsha performing with her band White Trash at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 30th, 1969 with members of the Rolling Stones looking on in the audience.]

After Mick came back from Australia, Marsha was offered a part in a film called “Welcome to the Club” which is a comedy about three Black USO performers sent to Hiroshima in the 1940s to entertain the troops on an all-white base. The film was being directed by Walter Shenson, who had produced the Beatles' films “A Hard Day's Night” and “Help” and shot it entirely in Copenhagen.

She was also asked to fly back to London to shoot another cover for American Vogue which was shot by photographer Patrick Litchfield. (They‘d never had a Black woman on the cover before.)

Mick began touring in America again, his first since 1966, and with the number of girls he had access to, she knew he was keeping himself busy on and off stage.

[LEFT: Mick on stage at Madison Square Garden during the Stones’ 1969 tour; RIGHT: Marsha filming “Welcome to the Club” in Copenhagen.]

He even started a short-lived relationship with singer and Ikette Claudia Lennear, as well sparking up a short fling with Devon Wilson, a notorious rock & roll groupie and the girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix who famously wrote the song “Dolly Dagger” about their affair.

[LEFT: Mick arriving at Madison Square Garden in November 1969 with Devon Wilson; RIGHT: Mick backstage at the same event with singer Claudia Lennear.]

But on December 6, 1969 - everything changed dramatically when an 18-year old concertgoer was stabbed and killed during the Stones’ free performance at the Altamont Speedway in California by the Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club, who was the band’s security. Members of the Hell’s Angels blamed Mick for the incident and subsequent to the concert, put a hit out on him and threatened to murder him. This marked the third major tragedy to happen since they’d known each other.

[BELOW: A scared Mick looks on as 18-year old Meredith Hunter is stabbed to death by the Hell’s Angels in front of the stage while the Stones performed at Altamont Speedway.]

Marsha stayed with Mick after the chaos at Altamont, which the media dubbed “The Death of the 60s”. By this time, he had officially split up with Marianne and moved Marsha into his house on Cheyne Walk where she helped him to transition and readjust his life. It was then their relationship intensified!

This is around the time she got a chance to really know Mick’s friends who lived on the same road, Keith Richards and his girlfriend, actress Anita Pallenberg, who just had a son, but was hooked on heroin. She thought they were nice, but they’d visit or show up unannounced all the time. Their hard drug-taking also scared Marsha, so she kept her distance and didn’t voice her opinion.

She also met Mick’s parents, Eva and Joe Jagger, along with his little brother Chris who was a bit of a hippie and had just returned from India with his American girlfriend. They had no work, no money and nowhere to stay, so Marsha kindly gave them a job painting her new apartment.

That Christmas, Marsha got Mick a puppy and Mick, for the first time, told her that he loved her.

Marsha was in a good place. Opportunities were coming to her fast, she had a new apartment, and she was in love with Mick. She had newfound stability and independence.

In January 1970, they were having dinner at the celebrity hotspot restaurant Mr. Chow’s when Mick said that she’d be a good mother and that they should have a baby together. Prior to this Marsha thought she was just another girl he fancied, as he was a notorious womanizer. But the talk of having a baby made her feel special to him. Her feelings for him were so deep that she also claimed, “I would have died for him.”

She knew Marianne miscarried around the same time Keith Richards’ son Marlon was born. Mick also missed family life with Marianne’s son Nicholas, so wanted to give having a baby a second try.

This fool literally made her take out her IUD coil, they had sex like rabbits, and when she found out she was 3 weeks pregnant, she told Mick who was ecstatic.

Marsha literally said to him, “listen, if you’re not ready and you changed your mind about this, it’s okay.” She was totally ready to get an abortion. But he assured her that’s what he wanted and he was happy.

They had their first argument when it came to naming the baby. Mick wanted a boy who he could send to the prestigious Eton School (the all-boys school where Prince William & Prince Prince Harry went), and he proposed that they call the baby ‘Midnight Dream’. Marsha wasn’t having it and even said, “Imagine sticking your head out of a window to call your child home and yelling, 'Midnight. Midnight! Time for tea.’”

She'd known that he and the band were leaving England for tax reasons and moving to France in the coming year. The Stones were also gearing up for their upcoming European tour.

Even though she loved Mick, he was young and she claimed she was “all for Mick doing his own thing”. They were supposed to be the sophisticated embodiment of an alternative social ideal — parent-hood shared between loving friends living separate lives.

This was around the time of the sexual revolution and people were exploring different types of relationships. Marsha didn’t find gratification in being ‘Mr. So and So’s’ wife, plus Mick was the type of guy to get up at 2pm to start his day - so marriage was sort of off the table. She claimed their relationship “thrived off her being supportive” and she loved to see him “run free”. And since she grew up in a matriarchy, the ideal of a man and woman living together seemed nice but unnecessary. They agreed that Mick would be a good absent father while he toured with the Rolling Stones and Marsha could still have her own career. It was all very modern!

Marsha also feared that her association with Mick would crowd out her own identity. She didn’t like the limelight because it was a discomfort. She also never wanted to be known as Mick Jagger's girlfriend (can you blame her? Like two of his girlfriends tried to commit suicide). Like him, she wanted her own independence.

By June 1969, Marsha told her band and the press that she was pregnant, but did not give up the name of the father. Though one little clever reporter found out it was Mick and threatened to print it. She thought of suing but asked the Stones PR team to link him to another girl. She managed to get through her pregnancy without a media frenzy or being linked to Mick even though they had stepped out together many times and he was ready to have it reported.

While Mick was away touring in Europe, his phone calls got less frequent. The tour was a bit crazy, and although Mick invited her to go to Paris, he knew she'd refuse – she didn’t want to get caught up. But he told her he was lonely and had met someone in Paris that he was taking to Italy. Her name was Bianca. She was Nicaraguan and spoke little English. Mick didn't mention her again, but after the tour, Marsha knew that she moved to his house in England.

His publicist sent her an invite to the premiere of his corny movie, “Ned Kelly,” but he didn’t show up. He also invited his parents to the event and it was there she realized that he didn’t tell them that he had a baby on the way. Mick hardly lavished praise on his parents and even once told the press, “I owe them nothing. They are my parents, that is that…but there are no dues to be made by me to them!”

By her third trimester, having a baby became her whole reality and his passing fancy. He started to forget that the baby was HIS idea.

Despite Marsha carrying his child, practically all references to her and the baby were quickly airbrushed out of his life. Chris O'Dell, Mick’s PA in the early-70s was even quoted as saying, “I never remember him talking about their child. In fact, I wasn’t aware of a baby being around at all. It was almost like [his first child] didn’t exist.”

Marsha was put in a difficult position because it was too late to go back and sometimes he’d phone like nothing ever happened. She claimed his mood would change so quickly, he was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. She also said, “I've discovered that he can burn hot and suddenly cool to below zero.“

She started to worry that he didn’t care anymore, so she tried to squeeze in any and every piece of work she possibly could to hold her up during and past her pregnancy (tv shows, photoshoots, etc.). She also volunteered at a local mental-care center in the autistic unit caring for a 12 year old boy to keep from feeling useless.

[BELOW: A heavily pregnant Marsha performing in late 1970.]

At the same time, Mick also did a lot of peculiar interviews, either stating he wasn’t interested in having children or flat out dissing Marsha. During a 1970 interview with London’s Daily Mail newspaper he even said, “For me, life has always got to be on the move and exciting. I love kids, I really do…but it’s not something I’m thinking about.” He of course failed to mention that Marsha was expecting their first child.

[BELOW: Mick during an interview referencing Marsha & his unborn child in 1970.]

Once it was time for her to give birth, a hard-up Marsha was ashamed and reluctant to ask him for any contribution because he never once offered. Mick ultimately gave her a measly £200 to get by, which came with a note saying “I know I haven’t done right by you” and he “loaned” her a ring he always wore.

She had initially planned a natural home delivery to keep the press at bay and because it was the “it” thing to do at the time, but was told by her OB-GYN that her baby was in danger and she had to go to the hospital the next day.

On November 3rd, she dragged her own luggage, and hailed a taxi to the hospital only to be told there weren’t enough beds. Panicked and scared, she went back home quite sure she was going to die from an unassisted childbirth.

When she went back to the hospital the next day for an induced labor, she checked in with her married name “Ratledge” to protect herself (and Mick). On November 4, 1970 after hours of labor, she gave birth to a girl she named Karis Hunt and phoned Mick first and then her mother. That day was the first time Mick actually told his now girlfriend Bianca that Marsha and a baby existed.

While waiting in the maternity ward, the nurses also forgot to feed her and she was so hungry. But being on The National Health, she didn’t complain.

When she checked out of the hospital, Mick sent a bouquet of red roses, a miniature muse figurine for the baby, a silver spoon, and some cheap Indian earrings for Marsha. He “dropped by” two days later to see his baby but was in a hurry to be somewhere else.

10 days later, he paid another rushed visit, but she took him to the side and was kinda like, “What’s up with you? Why don’t you call or come around more often for the baby” in which he snapped and yelled at her, “I never loved you” and that she was “mad to think that he had”. Of course Marsha, stitches still in, burning and all, started to cry which only made him more mad and he threatened to take Karis away from her if he chose. She stopped and said, “Try it! I’d blow your brains out!!”

In that moment, the loyalty she had for him was gone and she pushed forward and tried to find as much work as she could to support herself and her baby.

[BELOW: Marsha & Mick after the birth of their first child Karis Hunt in late 1970.]

READ ‘PART 2’ HERE!!! ☕️☕️☕️

#marsha hunt #mick jagger #the rolling stones #brown sugar #rolling stones #interracial couple #black women #karis jagger #music #history #rock history #rock & roll #musicians #thread #gossip #old school tea #1960s #1970s #sbrown82

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