Mick Jagger lucky to be alive, says younger brother Chris

Mick Jagger is lucky to be alive after his heart scare last week, according to his younger brother.

Chris Jagger, 71, revealed doctors only noticed Sir Mick’s heart condition during a routine check-up. The discovery led to the 75-year-old Rolling Stones frontman having emergency heart valve replacement surgery last week.

Chris also revealed that, had doctors not spotted the condition, it could have proved fatal, like it did for The Clash frontman Joe Strummer. Punk icon Strummer died suddenly aged 50 in 2002 of the same condition Mick was diagnosed with.

Chris told the Sunday People: “Mick is doing OK. I spoke to him – he’s good. It just showed up on a scan so it could happen to anybody, you know.

“It happened to Joe. He came back from walking the dogs and his wife found him collapsed on the sofa. He had this valve problem.

“His father died from it. It was hereditary. With Mick it came on a check-up.

“I’ve had a few health issues. At least he has not got to wait in line for the NHS.”

Read more: Mick Jagger ‘doing well’ after replacement heart valve treatment

The Stones were forced to cancel several US gigs as Mick was rushed in for surgery. Chris thinks it may be time for the band, whose four members have a combined age of 298, to rethink their future touring schedules. “Maybe he [Mick] will slow down. Touring is a pressure.”

Mick took to social media to apologise for having to cancel gigs. He tweeted: “I’m so sorry to all our fans in America & Canada with tickets. I really hate letting you down like this.I’m devastated for having to postpone the tour but I will be working very hard to be back on stage as soon as I can.”

Read more: Mick Jagger: Heart Surgery Postponed Rolling Stones Tour

After the successful surgery, he tweeted his gratitude to his fans and hospital staff: “Thank you everyone for all your messages of support, I’m feeling much better now and on the mend – and also a huge thank you to all the hospital staff for doing a superb job.”