SuperHeavy was a one-off supergroup project consisting of

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart,

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

, and

Damian Marley Damian Robert Nesta "Jr. Gong" Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican DJ, singer, lyricist and rapper. He is the recipient of four Grammy Awards. Early life, education and family Damian Marley is the youngest son of reggae musician Bob Marle ...

. Stone and Stewart have collaborated in the past with Jagger. Jagger said of the band, "We wanted a convergence of different musical styles... We were always overlapping styles, but they were nevertheless separate". Jagger wanted SuperHeavy to showcase different musical styles, with music ranging from

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ove ...

History

The existence of SuperHeavy was secret until May 2011.

, English musician and the lead vocalist of rock band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, announced its formation on 20 May 2011. SuperHeavy was Dave Stewart's idea. Inspired by the sounds washing into his home in St Ann's Bay,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, Stewart urged Jagger to fuse their sound with that of Indian orchestras. Stewart and Jagger had mutual liking for Indian orchestrations; thus,

was added to the supergroup. The name of the band is said to be inspired by Muhammad Ali. In early 2009, Jagger, Rahman, Stewart, Joss Stone and

experimented at Jim Henson Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, trying to "write songs which had meaning", during which they recorded 29 songs in 10 days. SuperHeavy is rounded out by Marley's rhythm section of bassist/composer Shiah Coore and drummer Courtney Diedrick along with a longtime Stewart collaborator, rock violinist Ann Marie Calhoun. The group began recording their self-titled debut album in early 2009 at a studio in Los Angeles. The album was previewed at Jim Henson Studios, Los Angeles, on 30 June 2011. The band played eight of the recorded songs at the event. Their debut single, "Miracle Worker", released on 6 July 2011, received mostly positive reviews. Mick Jagger sings in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

on " Satyameva Jayathe" ("truth alone triumphs"), the second single, released on 9 August 2011. Composed by Rahman, the song also features Stewart, Stone and Marley.

Band members

* * *

– vocals, guitar & harmonica *

– vocals & programming * Joss Stone – vocals *

– vocals, piano, synthesizers, continuum fingerboard, drum programming * Dave Stewart – lead guitar

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Other charted songs

References

External links

* (now offline) {{Authority control British rock music groups Musical groups established in 2011 Mick Jagger Rock music supergroups 2011 establishments in California