How Marianne Faithfull influenced The Rolling Stones and Mick Jagger

31 January 2025, 15:10 | Updated: 31 January 2025, 15:12

Marianne Faithfull was much more than a muse, but her influence is also worth celebrating.

Marianne Faithfull, who died this week at the age of 78, was a tremendous singer, actress and icon in her own right.

Her legacy exists without The Rolling Stones and she earned her place in the history books on her own merits.

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She also had a history that was intertwined with that of the World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll band and especially its singer Mick Jagger, which is something that can also be celebrated without diminishing her own achievements.

Marianne was a folkie before she embraced the heavier side of things, playing stripped back music in local coffee houses.

It was in 1964 when she entered the Rolling Stones orbit (or they entered hers), when she rocked up to a launch party for the band along with artist and future husband John Dunbar.

It was there that she met Andrew Loog Oldham, the young firebrand who had established himself as the Stones' manager.

Oldham had been cajoling Mick and Keith into writing their own music, and had urged them to stick with a ballad they didn't quite fancy called 'As Time Goes By'.

He switched 'Time' to 'Tears' and gave it to Faithfull to record as a B-side, but so successful was her rendition that it quickly became the lead track and became a top ten record in the UK and number 22 in the US.

Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By (Official Lyric Video)

"'As Tears Go By' was not, contrary to popular folklore, written for me," Marianne wrote in her 1994 memoir Faithfull, "but it fitted me so perfectly it might as well have been."

She added: "God knows how Mick and Keith wrote it or where it came from. In any case, it is an absolutely astonishing thing for a boy of 20 to have written a song about a woman looking back nostalgically on her life."

Marianne split from Dunbar in 1966. This was the same time Jagger and Jean Shrimpton parted, and Mick and Marianne started their own high-profile fling.

At the height of the Swinging '60s, their relationship was the stuff of legend, but just as important as all the tales of sex and drugs was the rock 'n' roll.

Marianne was a key influence on the music being written and performed by one of the two biggest bands in the world at that point.

And regarding the other one, you can hear Marianne on the backing vocals of The Beatles' 'Yellow Submarine'.

Marianne Faithfull - Something Better (Official Video) [4K]

Marianne had a direct impact on several of The Rolling Stones' biggest and best songs.

The band's classic 'Sympathy For The Devil' was partly inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, and it was Faithfull who introduced Jagger to the novel.

A clutch of songs that followed were said to have been inspired by Faithfull herself.

Sister Morphine (1969 Version)

That included such well-known tracks as 'You Can't Always Get What You Want', 'Wild Horses' and 'I Got the Blues'.

Marianne co-wrote her own 1969 B-side 'Sister Morphine' with Jagger and Keith Richards, though her input was only recognised years later after a lengthy legal dispute.

The Rolling Stones later recorded their own version on Sticky Fingers a couple of years later.

As a performer, Faithfull was one of many of the stars who appeared on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus concert. She performed 'Something Better' on the show.

The Stones mourned Faithfull on social media with the simple message "For Marianne 💛" and a video of Mick and Keith performing an acoustic version of 'As Tears Go By'.

On a more personal level, Mick posted a black and white photograph of himself and Marianne together on Instagram.

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A post shared by Mick Jagger (@mickjagger)

"I am so saddened to hear of the death of Marianne Faithfull," Mick said.

"She was so much part of my life for so long. She was a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer and a great actress. She will always be remembered."

Faithfull and Jagger's relationship ended in 1970, which put an end to the musical back and forth between her and the Rolling Stones.

Some tough years followed for Faithfull, but by 1979 she had returned with the stunning Broken English album which proved that as well as being Mick Jagger's muse, she was a musical powerhouse without the Stones, too.