Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart has had a checkered career that at its nadir saw him donning vinyl pants while crooning over run-of-the-mill disco rock. Fortunately this low point is sandwiched between decades of quality recorded material and performances. A multi-talented performer with a unique voice, Rod Stewart is capable of hip shaking that would make Elvis proud, and at his best is one of folk and rock’s most formidable songwriters.

Surprisingly, Rod Stewart’s first talent was playing football, and has said his English father was always just a little bit let down that he became a superpower by way of vocal chords rather than this feet.

Rod Stewart was born in London on January 10, 1945 and by the time he was eighteen he had been all over Europe singing and playing the harmonica with different blues combos and on the street, until he was abruptly returned to England at the tip of a Spanish policeman’s boot. It seems that Stewart, who certainly never lacked for chutzpah, had pushed things too far for the authorities to stomach through his carousing and busking.

Luckily for Rod Stewart, he found recognition for his talents when he returned home, and was soon singing with Long John Baldry and opening for the likes of the Rolling Stones. Things started to take off for Rod Stewart when he teamed with Jeck Beck to deliver a powerhouse blues-rock experience that picked up where the Yardbirds left off. The Small Faces was the next band Rod Stewart called home, and both their recordings and those done under the name “the Faces” offer clues as to the inspiration for Led Zeppelin’s songwriting style.

Now more than forty years into his career and with a songbook of solid hits like “Maggie May” and “You Wear it Well” to look back on, Rod Stewart continues to book huge tours and remains romantically linked to numerous models and actresses.