Mick Jagger Assassination Attempt in the Hamptons

Over the years there have been a lot of stories bandied around about the times that The Rolling Stones spent out at Andy Warhol’s estate in Montauk. Guitars blaring through the stillness of the night, sing-alongs around the jukebox at Shagwong and now the most unbelievable: The Hells Angels attempted assassination of Mick Jagger while he was staying at Warhol’s.

By the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Andy Warhol had become one of the foremost curators of the fabulous characters of the day. He was friends with everyone from Jacqueline Kennedy and Liz Taylor to Halston and Mick Jagger. He painted them, partied with them and every so often brought them out to his estate, Eothen, in Montauk. Warhol had bought the 20-acre estate with Paul Morissey and, despite the fact that Warhol didn’t even like the beach that much, it became his usual weekend escape with friends during the summer. Truman Capote, Pat Ast, Marisa and Berry Berenson, Loulou de la Falaise, Elsa Peretti, Anjelica Houston, Liza Minnelli, they all showed up to spend the weekend out at the estate and it wouldn’t have been unusual to find Liz Taylor playing softball on the lawn or John-John Kennedy buried up to his neck in sand on the beach.

It was during the early ‘70s that The Rolling Stones became frequent renters of Warhol’s place after they had finished tours—and, as one article notes, it was almost never a secret. “It didn’t take long for word to get out that the Stones were rehearsing in Montauk and the hotels in town soon filled up with groupies. Late into the night the band could be heard rehearsing far down the beach towards Ditch Plains and it wasn’t uncommon for the estate’s ground’s keeper to find fans hiding in the bushes. It was always an event when the band would head into town and stop off for a drink. Jagger and his wife, Bianca, would often go to the Shagwong where they had a decent jukebox and a pool table.”

And clearly, it was no secret to The Hells Angels either. A new report from “an FBI agent as part of a series, ‘The FBI at 100,’ on BBC Radio 4” reveals that, following the Stones’ tragic concert at Altamont in ’69, when the Stones started placing the blame on the Hells Angels for the fiasco, the Angels decided to assassinate Jagger.

Apparently, they set out in a boat to attempt a beach landing at Warhol’s estate and thereby avoid security at the entrance to the compound. And the only thing that stopped them was a storm that capsized the boat, throwing everyone onboard into the ocean.

 

Only in the Hamptons kids, only in the Hamptons.

Storm Saved Mick Jagger from Assassination [Reuters]
Warhol's Montauk [Hampton Style]