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Born Roderick David Stewart in London, ENGLAND, on January 10, 1945,
Rod was the youngest of Scottish-born Robert and Elsie Stewart's five
children. He taught himself to play the guitar aged 12 and inspired by
the music of Lonnie Donegan, began playing in local skiffle groups as
a teen.
After an unsuccessful apprenticeship with Brentford football club, Stewart
became a full-time musician joining Long John Baldry's group, The Hoochie
Coochie Men, in 1964. Only a year later and a name change to Steampacket,
the band was supporting The Rolling Stones
on tour. In 1966 he joined the Jeff Beck Group as lead vocalist, releasing
"Truth " two years later, it was the one that earned Stewart
his first nationwide exposure.
In 1969, he and the band's bass player, a pre-Rolling Stones Ron Wood,
joined The Faces. The same year, Stewart released his first solo album,
marking the beginning of a two-pronged career that would last until The
Faces, the last Rock band with which he would be associated, split in
1975.
On his debut LP, titled "An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down"
in Britain and "The Rod Stewart Album" in America, presumably
because its original title was “too English” or cryptic for
U.S. audiences, Rod Stewart essays a startlingly original blend of Rock
& Roll, Blues and Folk; the album reached #139 in U.S. but failed
to chart in the U.K.
"Gasoline Alley" followed a year later, climbing to #27 on the
U.S. Pop Albums chart.
In 1971 Rod Stewart released his masterpiece, "Every Picture Tells
A Story", an album that debuted at #1 on both U.K. and U.S. charts;
it spawned the singles "(I Know) I'm Losing You", which hit
the top 30 in the States, the massive smash "Maggie May", which
rocketed to #1 on both sides of the Atlantic and the minor hit "Reason
To Believe".
The next year his fourth LP, "Never A Dull Moment", shot to
#1 in Britain and peaked at #2 in U.S. generating a couple of top 40 singles
in "You Wear It Well" and "Angel".
Stewart returned in late 1974 with "Smiler", it met with a lukewarm
reaction from critics and fans in the U.S. but in his native England became
his fourth consecutive album to enter the chart at #1, including the 1973's
compilation "Sing It Again Rod".
A bitter fight with U.K. tax collectors resulted in Stewart's relocating
to glitzy Los Angeles, a move which the singer underlined by the album
title "Atlantic Crossing", this record came out in the summer
of 1975 going straight to the top in the U.K. where it spent nearly two
months at #1; in America, "Atlantic Crossing", reached #9 on
the Pop Albums chart. It contained the anthemic single "Sailing",
which peaked at #1 in Britain and the minor hit "This Old Heart Of
Mine".
One year later, "A Night On The Town" brought him to the top
of the British chart and this album reached the #2 spot in the U.S. eventually
earning a platinum certification; its main single, "Tonight's The
Night (Gonna Be Alright)" peaked at #1 on the U.S. Pop chart and
both the subsequent singles, "The First Cut Is The Deepest"
and "The Killing Of Georgie", managed to crack the American
Top 40.
1977's "Foot Loose & Fancy Free" followed the same formula
as his previous two albums reaching the top 3 on both sides of the Atlantic
simultaneously, while the sappy acoustic ballad "You're In My Heart"
soared to #4 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart; the record generated two more
top 30 hits, "I Was Only Joking" and "Hot Legs".
In November 1978, Rod Stewart released "Blondes Have More Fun",
which not only marked a turning point in musical styles, it also sealed
the singer's image as a swaggering, preening ladies' man with the tabloids;
the disc became his second #1 album in the United States highlighted by
the disco-influenced smash "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", it peaked
at #1 in the U.K. and also on the U.S. Pop Singles chart; the album contained
"Ain't Love A Bitch" which followed the first single in the
top 40 peaking at #22.
Rod Stewart returns to Rock with his new album, "Still The Same...
Great Rock Classics Of Our Time" set for release on October 10, via
J Records. Stewart's first Rock album in over eight years follows four
volumes of his "Great American Songbook" series of standards
albums which have sold over 8 million copies in U.S. alone.
Tracks include Bob Dylan's "If Not For You", Bob
Seger's "Still The Same" and John
Fogerty's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain", which will be the
first radio single from the CD.
Rod Stewart biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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