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He was absent for a few years of his daughter's life.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Sep 04, 2022
Mick Jagger, an icon in the entertainment industry and one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones, has achieved much in his career, though it seems his biggest one is being the proud father to his eight children.
Jagger's children, who range from ages 50 to four years old, have definitely lived a life in the spotlight thanks to their famous father. Though, at one point, Jagger's relationship with his eldest child had been extremely tumultuous.
Now, Jagger and his daughter, Karis, 51, are much closer than they were while she was a child, but why did the rocker disown his daughter in the first place?
Who is Karis Jagger?
Karis, 51, is the oldest child of Mick Jagger and was born in 1970. Karis' mother, actress Marsha Hunt, and Jagger first met in 1969 while Hunt was the female lead in the musical, "Hair."
Jagger immediately noticed Hunt and asked her to be on the cover of Rolling Stone's single "Honky Tonk Women." Even though Hunt refused, Jagger turned up at her apartment a few days later.
It wasn't long before Hunt and Jagger started dating, which had been controversial since Jagger had been rumored to be dating his then-girlfriend Marianne Faithfull.
Jagger had been so enamored with Hunt that he reportedly wrote the Rolling Stone song, "Brown Sugar" for the actress.
Eventually, Jagger ended his relationship with Faithfull and asked Hunt to move into his home in Chelsea, an area in West London. After moving in, Hunt and Jagger welcomed their daughter, Karis.
Jagger and Hunt's relationship quickly turned sour right as Karis was born in November 1970, and Hunt eventually moved out of Jagger's Chelsea home while the rocker moved on with actress Bianca Jagger, whom he married in 1971.
For years, Mick Jagger attempted to avoid financing his daughter's upbringing.
Jagger wasn't involved in Karis' life, and reportedly even missed her birth. According to the Daily Mail, Mick also refused to provide financial support in the form of a trust fund for Karis.
After battling in court, Jagger agreed to put £10,000 into a trust fund for Karis, plus £500 a year towards her living costs, however, Hunt allegedly was forced by Jagger's lawyers to sign papers saying he was not the father.
When Karis was seven, she and her mother moved to America, and in January 1979, Jagger was ordered to pay more in child support after Hunt was forced to collect welfare checks.
While Karis was growing up, her mother was honest about who Karis' father was, pointing out a The Rolling Stones song whenever it'd come on the radio.
"I read to her every night, sang to her," Hunt said, according to the Daily Mail. "I have no idea how different things would have been if Mick had been part of her life, but I know that the influence of celebrity, and all that goes with it, is difficult for children."
It wasn't until Karis was 12 that Jagger finally decided to acknowledge that he had a daughter living in America.
"He had to step down from a pedestal and say 'Yes, I’m her dad, come home with me,' when he had publicly said something else," Hunt said.
The reunion between Karis and Jagger had been formed because of model and actress Jerry Hall, who was in a relationship with Mick at the time. Hall invited Karis to family events, sometimes with all of Jagger's other children.
After Jagger and Karis formed a relationship, the rocker started making appearances at many of his daughter's events, including her graduation in 1992, and her wedding, where Karis' sister, Jade Jagger, was her maid-of-honor, and her children were her bridesmaids.
Karis was with Mick in 2003 when he accepted a knighthood from Prince Charles, and for the funeral of Mick’s father, Joe, in 2006.
More recently, in 2014, Karis had been photographed with Mick after the death of his longtime girlfriend, L'Wren Scott.
"What Mick has wanted is for all of the people who are closest to him to rally around, and that has meant his family. It may be that it’s made him [realize] that these children, who he hasn’t always been brilliant to, need to be shown love," a source told the Daily Mail.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.