Captioned simply: ‘Mick Jagger backstage, USA, early 1970s’, this arresting long-lost image appears to show Rolling Stone Mick Jagger preparing to snort cocaine from a knife.
Jagger, now 80 and a knight of the realm, is wearing a jumpsuit designed by Ossie Clark for the Stones’ 1972 tour. The picture was uncovered in a treasure trove of snaps taken by bandmate Keith Richards’ friend — and drug dealer — Tony Sanchez, known as ‘Spanish Tony’.
It has just come to light and will be among candid images of the band in an exhibition which opens in London’s Notting Hill next week. Richards’ son Marlon is to attend the private view on Wednesday.
Spanish Tony was the Stones’ fixer in their pomp and documented their life in hundreds of photographs which were thought for decades to have been lost.
In 1979, he wrote Up And Down With The Rolling Stones, an insider’s account of eight years at Richards’ side, on a £150 retainer. His duties included buying drugs for Keith, his bandmates and friends.
Does this long-lost image by the Rolling Stones’ ‘fixer’ show Mick Jagger snorting cocaine? asks Alison Boshoff
Rolling Stones photographer Tony Sanchez aka Spanish Tony
Sanchez died in 2000, having given boxes of photos and negatives to his son Steve. When Steve himself became ill, he told his children they should look in the attic of his home in Biggin Hill, Kent, to find pictures of the Stones, and to do what they wanted with the archive.
Art and rare books dealer Oliver Bayliss, whose company Bayliss Rare Books is putting on the exhibition at the J/M Gallery, told me: ‘Steve only discovered later in life that Tony was his father.
‘Tony had lived a freewheeling life and could not handle having a kid, so Steve had been raised by his grandparents, who he thought were his parents.
‘Steve had children of his own but didn’t talk much about Tony, or his links with The Rolling Stones, until a few years ago.
‘He said to his boys Matt and Nick: ‘You don’t really know about the life Tony lived but there is this archive of pictures in the loft and you have my blessing to do whatever you want with it.’
Tony’s grandchildren connected with Bayliss while trying to find a copy of Up And Down… (now out of print) to help make sense of the photos. Bayliss said: ‘Tony had amazing access, obviously; and was with the Stones in the South of France, in Morocco, and everywhere else. What was a surprise was that he was also a good photographer. There were thousands of pictures. I spent about four months going through them and have selected 28 for the exhibition. Clearly Tony got very close to Anita Pallenberg, as there are some racy ones of her and him, which I haven’t included.’
The pictures are available to buy from the Bayliss Books website; and a coffee table book may be published in due course. There are hundreds of shots of Keith and the Stones at his house, Redlands, in Morocco and on tour; plus photos of the band hanging out with friends including John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
Picture shows Keith Richards at Villa Nellcote, South of France, early 1970s
In his autobiography, Life, Keith Richards wrote: ‘Spanish Tony was a hard man. Biff bang! He ran a gambling casino for Spanish waiters, after hours. He was a dope dealer… with a Mark 10 Jaguar, two-tone, all done up pimp-style.’ Sanchez, meanwhile, wrote that Jagger and then-girlfriend Bianca were ‘passionate users of cocaine’ in the early 1970s, along with oil heir Paul Getty and his model wife Talitha, who later died of a suspected heroin overdose.
Tony recalled bringing cocaine, at Jagger’s request, to his wedding with Bianca in St Tropez. ‘A guy needs a little coke to get through his wedding day,’ Jagger is said to have told him. The singer’s former fondness for cocaine is a matter of record, with Jerry Hall famously saying he kicked his habit cold to win her love.
A spokesman for Jagger declined to comment.
The Rolling Stones will be touring their recent album, Hackney Diamonds, later this year.
Will you Harry me? Taylor’s ring riddle
Actress Taylor Russell seemed to be dropping a sparkling hint to boyfriend Harry Styles at the Baftas on Sunday by sporting a massive Tiffany diamond engagement ring — albeit on the wrong hand.
Canadian Russell, 29, teamed the £59,000 ring with vintage earrings and a diamond bracelet on the red carpet.
Her beau, who occasionally acts alongside his successful pop career, gave the event a miss and spent the day instead at Kenilworth Road stadium watching his team Manchester United play Luton Town.
Actress Taylor Russell seemed to be dropping a sparkling hint to boyfriend Harry Styles at the Baftas on Sunday by sporting a massive Tiffany diamond engagement ring but on the wrong hand
The couple have been dating since last June and rang in the New Year in Anguilla with Styles’ bestie James Corden.
The romance is categorised as ‘serious’ by friends and I hear that Russell is thinking of signing on the dotted line for a film project which will shoot in the UK this year, to allow them to keep spending all their time together.
She starred opposite Timothee Chalamet in the cannibal romance Bones And All last year and is also well-known for her role in the Netflix TV series Lost In Space.
And the Bafta for biggest flirts goes to … Mescal and Scott!
A busy 24 hours in London for the Baftas, with the stars of All Of Us Strangers, Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott’s double-headed flirting monster the most notable feature of the packed Netflix party at the Chiltern Firehouse on Sunday night following the ceremony. New couple Callum Turner and Dua Lipa spent the whole night in each other’s arms; while others networked, gossiped and drank. Things were considerably more civilised on Saturday at the swish, pre-event party hosted by Charles Finch and Chanel at 5 Hertford Street. Here, the greatest attraction was newly single actor James Norton — who was besieged by blondes. Everyone was there, from Margot Robbie to James Corden, and the hot topic was Oscars campaign fatigue. Only 16 days to go, people!
A busy 24 hours in London for the Baftas, with the stars of All Of Us Strangers, Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott’s double-headed flirting monster the most notable feature of the packed Netflix party at the Chiltern Firehouse on Sunday night
Tasmin Greig feels guilty about getting the giggles on set. The actress, currently on screen in the Sexy Beast prequel, says: ‘Simon Bird, who plays one of my sons in Friday Night Dinner, is a terrible, terrible giggler, and if I know he’s struggling, it’s like going and stamping on a man with a broken leg.
‘All I should do is not laugh — and therefore help him — but I don’t. I just go and make his injury much, much worse and I just join in. And then we’re lost.’
Oh, the many woes of a WAG
WAG Cat Harding — one of the stars of upcoming Prime Video series Married To The Game — says trying to look ‘perfect’ led to a disastrous beauty treatment which caused a lot of swelling, meaning she spent three nights in the spare room.
Harding told me: ‘I’m still waiting to see how it settles down. J (fiance Jorginho, an Arsenal player) was so upset. He said: ‘Why are you messing with yourself? It’s not worth it!’ ‘
He is insisting she has no further treatments, but Harding said: ‘Sometimes you’re trying to chase perfection. I feel so much pressure about how I look. It’s easy to get sucked in, as there is so much you can do, and everyone wants to try everything.’
Harding, who has a daughter Ada by actor Jude Law and a son Jax with Jorginho, said she ‘dreads’ the opening of the transfer windows in June and January and thinks it is inevitable she will live outside the UK at some point during her partner’s career. He plays for the Italian national side but was raised in Brazil and speaks Portuguese.
‘I have tried to explain to Ada that whatever happens, as long as we are together it will be OK,’ she said.
- Married To The Game premieres on Prime Video tonight.
She may be a queer icon, but Suzi Quatro says she stands with J.K. Rowling in the gender wars. Speaking in London this week the 73-year-old singer and bass guitarist said: ‘I’m not against any orientation. I’ve got a lot of gay friends, a lot of straight friends, but you’re born with one piece of equipment or the other. What, you gonna call a plumber and change it?
She may be a queer icon, but Suzi Quatro says she stands with J.K. Rowling in the gender wars
Queer icon Suzi Quatro says she stands with J.K. Rowling in the gender wars. Speaking in London this week the 73-year-old singer and bass guitarist said: ‘I’m not against any orientation. I’ve got a lot of gay friends, a lot of straight friends, but you’re born with one piece of equipment or the other. What, you gonna call a plumber and change it? It doesn’t make sense, and I do believe you should stick with the gender you were born with.’ She added: ‘It’s got into sports. How can a woman compete with a guy that’s transgender? I make J.K. Rowling right. Yes, identify as what you want. But I saw a girl the other day who said she identified as a pigeon.’
Amy’s fiance (and her voice) are left out of new biopic
Is Amy Winehouse getting a touch of the airbrush? I hear the singer’s fiance Reg Traviss — her boyfriend in the last two years of her life — is entirely absent from forthcoming biopic Back To Black, which comes out on April 12.
Marisa Abela in a scene from the Studio Canal feature film Back to Black which comes out on April 12
Amy Winehouse pictured with her finance Reg Traviss on July 13 2010
The film, from director Sam Taylor-Johnson, has been sanctioned by Amy’s father Mitch and record label Sony. It stars newcomer Marisa Abela as Winehouse, who died of alcohol poisoning aged 27, but shows little of her final years. A StudioCanal spokesman confirms Reg hasn’t made the cut, saying: ‘The film is focused on the period leading up to, and across, the recording and phenomenal success of the album Back To Black — hence the title. The story is very much told from Amy’s perspective at that time.’
With biopics of music stars, decisions about the singing are crucial. In Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek lip-synced to original Freddie Mercury vocals. But in Rocket Man, Taron Egerton performed the Elton John songs himself. Taylor-Johnson has taken the bold decision to use Abela’s vocals rather than Amy’s. A mole who has seen the picture said: ‘Marisa does a good job, but the film lacks Amy’s magic.’
Winehouse fans are unhappy about the movie, made in London last year, complaining that it exploits her distress. A 2015 documentary, Amy, which was critical of her father Mitch, was also controversial.
Matt Lucas has a small role in the new Gladiator sequel, which has just finished filming in Malta, with Paul Mescal in the lead role.
But he didn’t see much of legendary director Ridley Scott. He said: ‘Films are usually shot one camera at a time, but Ridley Scott is such a titan of the industry he sometimes has ten at the same time. He sits in a trailer and watches all the monitors. Some days you don’t actually see him personally — but you hear from him over the walkie talkie.’
Sean Ono Lennon, speaking about his short film War Is Over!, an Oscar-nominated success, said: ‘It felt like the stars aligned. And I’m not someone who uses that kind of cosmic terminology — despite being John and Yoko’s kid!’