Mick Jagger, the group’s charismatic frontman, was refused entry into Japanese territory
The January 11, 1973 will remain engraved in the history of rock like one of those moments when controversial and the celebrity collide head-on with reality. That day, the Rolling Stones tour au Japaneagerly awaited by Japanese fanswas brutally canceled. The reason? Mick Jaggerthe charismatic leader of groupewas refused theentrée on the Japanese territory due to his past drug use.
In the 70sTHE Rolling Stones were at the top of their fame. Their explosive musictheir provocative texts and their rebellious attitude had made them emblems of rock’n’roll. But this sulfurous image didn’t go everywhere. THE Japanwith its strict laws and its conservative culturewas not ready to welcome a singer whose name was associated with the drug and at scandal. L’entry ban of Jagger therefore had immediate consequences : THE concerts scheduled to Tokyo et Osaka must have been canceledleaving thousands of fans disappointed and frustrated.
Cet incident perfectly illustrates the cultural gap which then existed between the rock occidental and some pays to strict rules. For the Rolling Stonesit was a rappel brutal that their legends status of rock did not protect them from legal constraints et socialeven atinternational. However, far from slowing down the groupeces scandalous episodes have strengthened their rebellious imagecementing their statut de « bad boys » of rock and feeding the myth around Mick Jagger.
Today, this event remains one fascinating testimony from the time when the rock’n’roll was not limited to scenes of the UNITED STATES orEuropebut faced cultures and companies sometimes totally foreign to its unbridled energy. L’interdiction of Mick Jagger au Japan is more than one anecdote : it’s a symbol of choc between the artistic freedom and the codes stricts of a world even less globalized than today.
