IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Happy birthday Mick Jagger: 70 never moved better

If ever a man defined "rock 'n' roll," it would be Mick Jagger. More than almost any performer of the modern age, Jagger embodies all things rock, for good and ill: He's got the swagger, the pipes, the tunes, the attitude, the lifestyle, the drugs, the rivalry (with Keith Richards), the semi-successful movie career, the iconic status across generations. And as of Friday, he turns 70. So in honor o
Get more newsLiveon

If ever a man defined "rock 'n' roll," it would be Mick Jagger. More than almost any performer of the modern age, Jagger embodies all things rock, for good and ill: He's got the swagger, the pipes, the tunes, the attitude, the lifestyle, the drugs, the rivalry (with Keith Richards), the semi-successful movie career, the iconic status across generations. And as of Friday, he turns 70. So in honor of the birthday boy, we look back at some of his most memorable moments ... because nobody has moves quite like Jagger.

Performing on "The Mike Douglas Show"
The band had only been together for a couple of years when they gave one of their first U.S. TV performances. But check out Jagger in the video below: All the elements are in place, if slightly toned-down — Jagger shimmying for the screaming girls, eyeballing the camera lasciviously, and giving every line his all.

Racial, sexual provocateur
When he was 35, Jagger sat down for a 1978 TODAY interview in and talked about controversy surrounding The Rolling Stones' "Some Girls" album, noting that the band's next release would be even "more racist and sexist," adding that being successful has made him feel "useless." Fortunately, in the years since Jagger seems to have either reformed his worldviews or learned to keep it out of the press.

Tears off Tina Turner's skirt, mid-song at Live Aid '85
For those who don't remember this moment, Turner and Jagger each tried to out-strut one another during the famous benefit concert, during which they performed "State of Shock" and "It's Only Rock 'N' Roll." It was a last-minute decision to collaborate; reportedly Turner had lyrics to the song written on her arm. What's not in dispute was the very Jagger-like surprise move he pulled on Turner, undoing her leather skirt during their second tune. He had the chutzpah, she had the legs, and they made this early "wardrobe malfunction" work as only they could.

"Mick Dumps Everyone For Bette!!"
"Beast of Burden" started out life as the second single from the Rolling Stones' 1981 "Some Girls" album and hit the Top 10, but when Bette Midler got her hands on the tune in 1983, Jagger just had to join in. The ensuing music video for her take on the song hilariously features the pair as a romantic couple, with Jagger starting to put one foot out the door.

Hosting "Saturday Night Live"
Jagger is the oldest person to both host and perform as musical guest in the same "Saturday Night Live" episode (he was nearly 69 when he did it, in 2012) but he can hold his own with whoever he's paired up alongside ... even if it requires him to put on a Southern Californian accent to do it.


Mick Jagger, Thespian
Over the years, Jagger's onstage charisma has never translated as forcefully onto the big screen, but that doesn't mean he hasn't given it a good try, in films like 1970's "Ned Kelly," an early (aborted) version of Werner Herzog's 1979 film "Fitzcarraldo," and 2001's "The Man from Elysian Fields." But for sheer all-out bad guy weirdness, it's hard to top his role as a mercenary who kidnaps Emilo Estevez in 1992's "Freejack." (Which, by the way, supposedly takes place in 2009. Oh, well.)

Jagger and Bowie
Okay, believe what you like about Angela Bowie's claim that she once caught her ex-husband David Bowie and Jagger in bed together, unclothed. Whatever these two divos may have had together is their business — but for those who still doubt it ever happened, can you really question there's some kind serious chemistry at work in their 1985 remake of Martha and the Vandellas' "Dancing In the Street"? We can't.

"Moves Like Jagger"
After 50 years in the business, and as of Friday aged 70, Mick Jagger has been around long enough to warrant his own tribute song — which Maroon 5 happily obliged with in 2011. Via archival footage, Jagger was of course present in the video (and later in an interview called the song "flattering"). Here's to another 70 great, move-filled years, Mick!