Mick and Eric pipe up to help buy £650,000 church organ

You wouldn’t think of rock legends Sir Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton as church- supporting kind of folk.

old Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Slowhand are more readily associated with their hedonistic ways — Jagger for his relentless womanising and unconventional fathering, and Clapton for his former hard-drinking and heroin-addicted lifestyle.

But I can reveal that the two rock icons have delighted parishioners in their neighbourhood of Chelsea by responding with kindness to help with an urgent church organ appeal.

Jagger, 76, and Clapton, 74, who both have homes a mere Bible’s throw from Chelsea old Church, have quietly donated to the appeal for the Grade I-listed building overlooking the Thames.

The church, which has been the venue for numerous celebrity weddings and funerals over the decades, has taken four years to raise £650,000 for a new hand-crafted organ. The old one had been in situ for 70 years and was falling apart.

Hundreds of well-heeled locals chipped in large donations, and by sponsoring some of the 2,168 gilded pipes.

Jagger has held a candle for Chelsea ever since moving into a flat at 102 Edith Grove in 1962 with fellow Stones Keith Richards and Brian Jones. He has owned a mansion in Cheyne Walk for many years, while Clapton lives in a Georgian terrace house near the church when he’s not at his Surrey estate with his family.

The organ has been handmade by a team of master craftsmen at the Devon headquarters of William Drake Ltd, organ makers by appointment to the Queen. The firm has previously built organs for St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.

The organ will be christened at a series of concerts in the coming weeks — although it is not known if Jagger or Clapton will be in attendance.

PARISHIONER Rob McGibbon, who was part of the fundraising committee, said: ‘It has been a huge effort by the local community to raise the money, but to get the support of Mick and Eric was a wonderful bonus.

‘We reached out to them and they both responded immediately and generously. They clearly have a deep affection for the church.

‘The next step is to get them to do a gig together at the church accompanied by the organ.’