Following her devastating passing yesterday, Sir Mick Jagger has paid tribute to his former girlfriend ... She was so much part of my life for so long. She was a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer ...

After being “discovered” as a teenager by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, her breakthrough single As Tears Go By, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, was released in 1964 ...

It was a brutal assessment that even shocked the normally unshockable Faithfull, who died yesterday, but one that captures the essence of life hard ... at the hip with Mick Jagger as the ultimate ...

"I am so saddened to hear of the death of Marianne Faithfull," Jagger wrote on Instagram ... back nostalgically on her life. The uncanny thing is that Mick should have written those words ...

"She was so much a part of my life for so long. She was a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer and a great actress." FILE - Mick Jagger, lead singer of the Rolling Stones pop-group and actress ...