Rod Stewart Totally Explained

Everything about Rod Stewart totally explained

Roderick "Rod" David Stewart, CBE (born January 10, 1945), is a singer and songwriter born and raised in London, England and currently residing in Epping. He has Scottish and English parentage.
With a distinctive, raspy voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and early '70s with The Jeff Beck Group and then The Faces and began a solo career in 1969, with his debut album An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down.
With his career in its fifth decade, Stewart has achieved numerous hit singles worldwide, most notably in the UK, where he's garnered six consecutive number one albums and his tally of 62 hit singles include 24 that reached the top 10, six of which gained the number one position. It has been estimated that Stewart's album and single sales total more than 250 million, easily earning him a place on the list of best-selling music artists. His biggest-selling song was the 1978 disco hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which was atypical of his earlier output, marking the beginning of a blatantly commercial era for Stewart, and which actually damaged his credibility amongst many critics and longtime fans.

Biography

Early life

Stewart was born the youngest of five children in Archway, North London, England to parents Robert and Elsie Stewart, who ran a newsagent. Rod was the first of his siblings (two brothers, two sisters) to be born in England after the family moved from Scotland. He attended the William Grimshaw School in Hornsey.
The Stewart family were great fans of the singer Al Jolson and would sing and play his hits. Rod collected his records, read books about him and was influenced by his performing style. He decided to take up guitar at the age of eleven and joined a skiffle group with schoolfriends called the Kool Kats, fence erector and sign writer. He was also an active supporter of CND at this time. He joined protest marches to Aldermaston and was arrested when he took part in sit ins for the cause

Personal life

In 1982, Rod Stewart was car-jacked in Los Angeles, California. The incident occurred while he was standing next to his $50,000 Porsche which was parked on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.
   In 1999, Stewart was diagnosed as having thyroid cancer, for which he underwent surgery in July 2000. Besides being a major health scare, the resulting surgery also threatened his famous voice, and he'd to re-learn how to sing. Since then he's been active in raising funds for The City of Hope Foundation charity to find cures for all forms of cancer, especially those affecting children.
   Stewart has remained physically active in recent years, playing in a senior soccer league in Palos Verdes, California and still kicking balls into the audience during concerts. When discussing the rock 'n' roll excesses he's been through in his career, he maintains that his love of playing football has been his saviour. As a fan, he's a well-known supporter of Celtic F.C., which he mentions in his hit "You're in my Heart", and the Scotland national team. Rod is one of only two people to have a seat for life at Celtic Park, the other one being the comedian Billy Connolly. Stewart also follows Manchester United as his English side, and he explains his love affair with both the Celtic and Man U in Frank Worall's book Celtic United. He explains the meaning behind the line " You're Celtic, United, but baby I've decided You're the best team I've ever seen." In appearance, Stewart still maintains his trademark rooster-style haircut.
   Stewart is also a keen model railway enthusiast, having a 23 x 124-foot HO scale layout in his California home, model after the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroads during the 1940s, which has now made the pages of the December 2007 issue of Model Railroader Magazine. In it he said that he'd rather be in a model railroading magazine than a music magazine, and his passion for the hobby has been blamed for contributing to the end of his second marriage. He has a layout based on Britain's East Coast Main Line at his UK home. He is also known for owning one of the 400 Enzo Ferraris.
   On October 11, 2005, Stewart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 2093 Hollywood Blvd.
   On April 18 and April 19 2006 Stewart was the guest artist and celebrity vocal coach on American Idol, leading the remaining seven finalists in singing entries from the Great American Songbook.

Relationships

Throughout his career Stewart has been known for his liaisons with attractive women (fathering seven children with five of them; the oldest being born in 1964 and his latest child being born in November 2005):

1963-1964: Art student Susannah Boffey; one daughter Sarah Thubron Streeter (born 1964) who was put up for adoption in England
1971-1975: Model Dee Harrington
1975-1977: Actress Britt Ekland
First marriage (1979-1984): to Alana Hamilton (ex-wife of actor George Hamilton); one daughter Kimberly (born 1979) and one son Sean Stewart (star of A&E's Sons of Hollywood) (born 1980)
1983-1990: Model Kelly Emberg; one daughter Ruby Stewart (born 1987)
Second marriage (1990-2006): to model Rachel Hunter; one daughter Renée Stewart (born 1992) and one son Liam Stewart (born 1994). Rod was quoted as saying that he'd rather have his penis cut off than cheat on her. They seperated in 1999 and eventually divorced in 2006.* Third marriage (2007-present): With his new wife, model Penny Lancaster-Stewart, he'd his seventh child, a boy, Alastair Wallace Stewart, on 27 November 2005. The couple married on June 16, 2007 on board the yacht Lady Ann Magee moored in the Italian port of Portofino.

In reference to his many relationships, Rod Stewart was once quoted as saying, "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."

Awards and recognition

Awarded CBE in 2007 New Year's Honours.

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, 2005, Stardust ... The Great American Songbook Volume III

Diamond Award of World Music Awards show for over 100 million records sold worldwide, 2001.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1994

Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, 2006

"Bar none, he's the best singer I've heard in rock 'n' roll. He's also the greatest white soul singer." —Elton John on Rod Stewart

"Is this a white guy? You are kidding me!!" Chuck Berry commented when asked what he thought about Rod's cover of Sweet Little Rock & Roller in an interview by the Belgian Rock magazine Humo in 1975.

Rod Stewart played to the largest concert crowd ever, with 3.5 million fans in attendance. This was at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the 1994 New Year’s Eve celebrations.

According to Stewart, soul legend James Brown called him music's "best white soul singer" in September 2006.

List of bands

During his career, Rod Stewart has been a member of a number of groups including:

Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions (1963)

The Hoochie Coochie Men, later called Steampacket (1964–1965)

Soul Agents (1965-1966)

Shotgun Express (1966)

The Jeff Beck Group (1966–1969)

Faces (1969–1975)

Discography

UK/U.S. number one albums

1971 Every Picture Tells a Story (UK / U.S. )

1972 Never a Dull Moment (UK )

1973 Sing It Again Rod (UK )

1974 Smiler (UK )

1975 Atlantic Crossing (UK )

1976 A Night on the Town (UK )

1977 Foot Loose & Fancy Free (UK / U.S. )

1978 Blondes Have More Fun (U.S. )

1979 Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (UK )

1981 Tonight I'm Yours (U.S. )

1983 Body Wishes

1984 Camouflage (UK / U.S. )

2004 (U.S. )

2006 Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of our Time (U.S. )

UK/U.S. number one singles

1971 "Maggie May" / "Reason To Believe" (UK/U.S.)

1972 "You Wear It Well" (UK)

1975 "Sailing" (UK)

1976 "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)" (U.S.)

1977 "I Don't Want to Talk About It" / "The First Cut Is the Deepest" (UK)

1978 "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (UK, U.S.)

1983 "Baby Jane" (UK)

1990 "Downtown Train" (U.S. Adult Contemporary)

1990 "This Old Heart of Mine" with Ronald Isley (U.S. Adult Contemporary)

1993 "All for Love" (U.S.) (Featuring Bryan Adams and Sting, first appearing on the official soundtrack from the movie "The Three Musketeers")

1993 "Have I Told You Lately" (U.S. Adult Contemporary)Further Information

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