How a murder at a Rolling Stones concert almost led to Mick Jagger’s death-Brooke Ivey Johnson-Entertainment – Metro

A murder at a Rolling Stones concert lead to an assassination plot against Sir Mick Jagger (Picture: Getty Images)

Rock and roll has a long history of violence and bloodshed far beyond the occasional bloody nose that’s almost a right of passage for anyone who’s been in a mosh pit.

The Altamont Speedway Free Festival in 1969 may have been the most violent rock event in history, and is now more well remembered for that than its stellar line up.

Santana, Jefferson Airplane, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) all appeared at the festival, with the Rolling Stones taking the stage as the final act – that tragically ended in a murder.

With the massive success of Woodstock earlier that year, Altamont was meant to replicate the harmony and countercultural celebration on the West Coast.

Unfortunately, what began as a beacon of peace descended into chaos and violence, becoming a lasting symbol of the unraveling optimism of the 1960s.

Unlike Woodstock, which had robust planning and security, Altamont took a different approach.

The Hells Angels were hired to do security in keeping with the countercultural spirit of the festival(Picture: Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images)

Security was entrusted to the notorious Hells Angels motorcycle gang, paid in beer for their services.

At a time of widespread distrust of government and law enforcement, keeping the authorities out might have seemed like a countercultural move – but it ultimately proved disastrous.

As the day wore on, tensions grew. Drug use, overcrowding, and disorganisation turned the festival grounds volatile.

Hell’s Angels incited violence throughout the weekend (Picture: William L. Rukeyser/Getty Images)

They best concertgoers with pool cues at one point (Picture: Getty Images)

In fact, The Grateful Dead were also scheduled to perform after CSNY, but ultimately chose not to due to the violence that was already beginning to break out in the festival.

By the time The Rolling Stones took to the stage as the headline act, violence had already begun brewing in the audience.

Sir Mick Jagger, clearly uneasy, tried to calm the crowd. ‘Just be cool down in the front there, don’t push around,’ he said. But his words went unheeded.

During their set, an incident occurred that would forever mar the festival. Meredith Hunter, an 18-year-old concertgoer, attempted to approach the stage, possibly to get closer to the band.

The motorcycle gang unsuccessfully attempted to keep fans off the stage (Picture: Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images)

The gig quickly descended into chaos (Picture: Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images)

The Hells Angels, aggressively policing the event, intervened, and a physical altercation broke out.

In the chaos, Hunter pulled a gun. In response, members of the Hells Angels fatally stabbed him. The shocking moment was captured on film and later included in the documentary Gimme Shelter.

Rolling Stone magazine spoke to an eye witness of the incident shortly after it took place who described the event in detail.

The fan, who chose to remain anonymous, decribed the moment that a Hells Angel, ‘reached over and grabbed the guy beside me by the ear and hair, and yanked on it, thinking it was funny, you know, kind of laughing. And so, this guy shook loose; he yanked away from him.’

He continued, describing how Hunter tried to run away from the gang as they began to ‘mug him.’

The festival was intended to be the West Coast’s answer to Woodstock (Picture: McHugh/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The witness claimed that the Hells Angels were chasing him and, ‘hitting him and one Hell’s Angel pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the back.’

It was only at this point that Hunter revealed he had a gun, according to the witness. Tragically, this only emboldened his atackers, who stabbed him again before kicking him repeatedly in the head.

The witness said: ‘He let go and he fell down on his face. And then one of them kicked him on the side and he rolled over, and he muttered some words. He said “I wasn’t going to shoot you.” That was the last words he muttered.’

Several concert-goers tried to get the injured man help, even attempting to carry him on stage and get Sir Mick’s attention, but he couldn’t hear them and, fearful a full-blown riot may start if the band stopped playing, continued the set.

The stones played many chaotic gigs throughout 1969 – but this was the deadliest (Picture: King/Sunday Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

The Stones played many chaotic gigs throughout 1969 – but this festival was the deadliest (Picture: Getty Images)

Dr. Richard Baldwin, the general practitioner who supervised the various medical units at the festival, told the outlet that given one of the stab wounds hit an artery, Hunter didn’t stand a chance of survival.

He said that when a person suffers an injury of that nature, ‘You’re dead in less than a minute and there’s nothing anyone can do. In other words, if you’re standing in front of the hospital, or even if he was stabbed in an operating room, there’s nothing they could have done to save him. That’s one of those injuries that’s just irreparable.’

Sir Mick did recognise there had been some kind of injury, saying into the mic: ‘We’ve really got someone hurt here… is there a doctor?’

The band was reportedly devastated when they found out about the death (Picture: Getty Images)

The Altamont tragedy marked the end of the utopian dreams that had defined much of the 1960s counterculture.

It was a moment of reckoning, not just for The Rolling Stones but for the entire rock-and-roll world, and it almost spelled disaster for Sir Mick specifically.

Critics and fans alike questioned the band’s role in the festival’s disorganisation, while others pointed fingers at the Hells Angels, the festival organisers, and even the broader societal tensions of the time – particularly that Hunter was a Black man, which led many to speculate that racism played a roll in his death.

But the danger didn’t end with Altamont. According to an FBI revelation years later, the Hells Angels held Sir Mick personally responsible for the fallout, particularly their own vilification.

The fact that the band refused to cover the Hells Angels’ $50,000 in legal costs infuriated the motorcycle gang, who went to trial for murder.

Biker Allan Passaro was found not guilty in 1971, after the California jury found that Passaro had acted in self-defense, The New York Times reported from the trial.

In tapes recorded at the time that were later made into a podcast, Sir Mick said: ‘People would say, “Mick, aren’t you worried?” One time it really got me was after we decided to do the tour. We parked in a parking lot and these four girls came up, young girls… They said, “But aren’t you afraid of being shot?” That really freaked me out. You know, they’re like, 15-year-old girls. So I said, “Yeah, I am.”‘

Sir Mick (l) has never commented on the alleged suicide attempt (Picture: Michael Putland/Getty Images)

But they continued to tour. ‘Either I stopped touring or I didn’t. It was as simple as that…. Don’t say I wasn’t scared — I was scared s—less!’ Jagger explained.

And as it turned out, Sir Mick’s concern was well-founded.

The Hells Angel’s anger turned into a sinister plot: the gang reportedly planned to assassinate Sir Mick at his holiday home in the Hamptons, New York. The plan was audacious – they intended to approach by sea to bypass the home’s security.

However, their scheme was foiled by the weather. A storm capsized their boat, tossing the would-be assassins overboard and putting an end to the plan.

Altamont serves as a grim milestone in rock history, a reminder that as rock and roll swept the world, it wasn’t immune from larger cultural forces.

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