Date of Birth 17 January 1948, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Birth Name Michael Kevin Taylor

Nickname Little Mick

Height 5' 11" (1.8 m)

Mini Bio (1)

Mick Taylor was born on January 17, 1948 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England as Michael Kevin Taylor.

Trade Mark (4)

Long blonde hair (in his youth times).

Gibson Les Paul guitar.

Guitar solos as "All Down the Line", "Can't you hear me Knocking", "Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)", "Love in vain", "Sway", etc.

Smooth, lyrical playing style.

Trivia (10)

Generally regarded (by critics and musicians alike) as the greatest guitarist the Rolling Stones ever had.

Former guitarist for John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.

Former guitarist for the Rolling Stones (1969-1974).

Left the Rolling Stones in December, 1974, because of musical differences and as he later stated, to save his life because of the heavy drinking and drugs.

Former guitarist for the Jack Bruce Band.

Elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 (as a member of the Rolling Stones).

First performed on a few tracks of the 1969 album "Let It Bleed" which also included Brian Jones, whom Taylor would replace. Then on Mick Taylor's last album with the Stones, "It's Only Rock N' Roll", Ronnie Wood, who would later replace Taylor, performed on the title track.

Played guitar on several Rolling Stones studio tracks (without guitarist Keith Richards performing guitar), including "Shine A Light", "Sway", "Moonlight Mile", "Hide You Love", "100 Years Ago", and "Winter".

He was the tallest of The Rolling Stones, being about 5 inches taller than the diminutive Brian Jones whom he replaced after Jones's untimely death.

Living in a rundown semi-detached cottage in Suffolk, UK. [October 2009]

Personal Quotes (7)

After moving to Los Angeles in 1990: I joined the line of junkies. I was a virtual down and out. My lowest time was in the clinic on Christmas Day. A nurse gave me a tumbler of methadone and said, "Have a nice Christmas." I told her there wasn't any Christmas for junkies. I decided to go back to England [in the mid 1990s] to find a cure, however painful.

After leaving the Rolling Stones: My father was dying of liver cancer and was in terrible pain in hospital. He said he knew I'd been using drugs and asked if I would ask the nurses for stronger painkillers. I did and they gave him morphine. I sat there trying to balance the irony of the situation.

When I left, they cut off my money for a year, just like that. But I had to leave because I was frustrated. I had a creative relationship with Mick, but I was also bored for a lot of the time. I wanted more and they wanted to remain the same. I also wanted to deal with my drug problems. I believed if I removed myself from that situation I would sort myself out.

I was a bit impulsive back then. I had a reputation on stage of being quiet, but off it I wasn't. We used to fight and argue all the time. And one of the things I got angry about was that Mick had promised to give me some credit for some of the songs - and he didn't. I believed I'd contributed enough. Let's put it this way - without my contribution those songs would not have existed. There's not many but enough, things like Sway and Moonlight Mile on Sticky Fingers and a couple of others.

My drug use began as an occasional recreational thing. I never thought I would get addicted. But by the time I returned to London in 1973, I'd become more and more dependent. I was using every day.

When they asked me to come to the studio in 1969, I thought they just wanted me to play a session. I sort of liked them, but was never passionate about the Stones. In some ways I liked The Beatles more. At the first session, I overdubbed the guitar on Honky Tonk Women, but I thought they were all a little bit vain and full of themselves. After doing guitar parts on three songs, I said to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "If you guys are just going to sit and mess around, I'm going home. I've got things to do." I told them to give me a call if they wanted me to do anything else. The next day, Mick called and asked if I wanted to join. He came and picked me up in his Bentley. I wasn't impressed by all that and I think they kind of liked that attitude.

People are always asking me whether I regret leaving the Rolling Stones. I make no bones about it - had I remained with the band, I would probably be dead. I was having difficulties with drug addiction and couldn't have lasted. But I'm clean now and have been for years. My life is so much better now than being a drug-ravaged member of the Stones. So no, I don't regret leaving.

'But people who really know me ask another question - whether I regret joining the Stones. To me, that's far more astute.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0852909/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm