Sir Roderick David "Rod" Stewart is an English rock singer-songwriter and one of the most successful music artists of all time.
Rod Stewart Biography
Rod Stewart was born on 10 January 1945. He grew up in London, in a medium where he was surrounded by football and also music. Roderick David Stewart grew up to be the football captain of his school’s team. While supporting his sportive hobby, he also listened to a lot of Al Jolson and played the guitar.
Beginnings
Stewart befriended folk artist Wizz Jones in 1962 and they began singing together. In 1963, he joined the band the Dimensions that would soon become Jimmy Powell & the Five Dimensions. Due to personal issues with Powell, Rod left the band. The future star also played for a while with Long John Baldry and Shotgun Express. One of Stewart’s biggest performances while in a band was with the Jeff Beck Group. They released two albums and toured the United Kingdom, grasping quite a fanbase.
Establishing a Solo Career
During his numerous collaborations, Stewart also tried to launch his solo career with a handful of singles. His first solo album An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down issued in 1969. Around this time Rod was also present in the music scene with the band The Small Faces, for which he provided lead vocals.
The British artist achieved both national and overseas fame with his second solo studio album Every Picture Tells a Story (1971). He consolidated his position with the next album, Never a Dull Moment (1972). With it, Stewart went to number one on the UK albums chart. After the album Ooh La La (1973), The Small Faces broke up.
Growing Legend
Building up his castle of fame from scratch, Stewart rocked the world again with the 1978 song “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”. He was later sued because the chorus of the song shared too many similarities with the song “Taj Mahal” of Jorge Ben Jor. The next step implied Rod donating the hit’s payments to UNICEF and holding a concert at the United Nations General Assembly.
Years passing, he continued to top charts and was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. The Grammy-awarded artist issued the album Time in 2013. After decades of performing and recording, Stewart managed once again to enter the UK Albums chart at number one.
Photo Source: Discogs