Mick Jagger’s lips help pay school fees

The most recognisable logo in the pop music history – the Rolling Stones’ iconic tongue and lips symbol – has been bought at auction by the Victoria and Albert Museum for £50,000, a sale that has been forced upon its designer, John Pasche, for the least rock and roll of reasons - private school fees. He says: "I have an 11-year-old son and this money is going to go towards his education."

Pasche was a 24-year-old postgraduate design student at London’s Royal College of Art when Mick Jagger approached him to do the design in 1970. He recalls: "Mick had a picture of Kali, the Hindu goddess, which he was very keen on. India was very much in fashion at the time, but I thought something like that might go out of date."

As soon as Pasche met the Stones frontman he knew what the logo should be. "The mouth idea came from when I met Jagger at the Stones’ offices. I went into this sort of wood-panelled boardroom and there he was. Face to face with him, the first thing you were aware of was the size of his lips and his mouth."

The logo, for which Pasche was initially paid £50, first appeared on the inside sleeve of the 1971 album Sticky Fingers and has been used ever since. The Stones eventually copyrighted the design and Pasche received a share of royalties until he sold the rights for a lump sum.
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