Stewart, Rod

▪ British singer-songwriter

in full  Roderick David Stewart  

born Jan. 10, 1945, London, Eng.

      British singer and songwriter whose soulful, raspy voice has graced rock and pop hits since the late 1960s. Stewart became an international star following the extraordinary commercial success of his landmark album Every Picture Tells a Story (1971).

      Although best known as a solo artist, Stewart achieved his first exposure and success as a member of several popular groups. After taking an early interest in folk music and rhythm and blues, he was a member of two relatively obscure London-based bands (Steampacket and Shotgun Express) in the mid-1960s before teaming with the influential guitarist Jeff Beck and future Rolling Stone (Rolling Stones, the) Ron Wood in the Jeff Beck Group. Stewart's collaboration with Beck ended in 1969 when, after two albums, he was persuaded by Wood (who had been fired by Beck) to join the Faces. Formerly the Small Faces, the band—also comprising Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, and Kenny Jones—played bluesy rock that appealed to Stewart's long-standing interest in rhythm and blues. During the early 1970s the raucous Faces were among Britain's most popular live performers, and their album A Nod's as Good as a Wink…to a Blind Horse (1971) remains highly regarded. Nonetheless, Stewart, determined not to be constrained by the group format, pursued a parallel solo career during his tenure with the Faces (1969–75).

      Released in 1969, his first solo album, An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (also released as The Rod Stewart Album), was commercially disappointing, but its mixture of original and cover songs would prove to be a successful formula for Stewart. Gasoline Alley (1970) sold better and was well received by critics, but it hardly suggested what would happen in 1971. Every Picture Tells a Story became the first record to top the charts in Britain and the United States simultaneously, the single “Maggie Mae” repeated the feat, and Rolling Stone magazine named Stewart “rock star of the year.” His next album, Never a Dull Moment (1972), and its single “You Wear It Well” were also hits, as Stewart's solo work eclipsed his efforts with the Faces. Among other subsequent hits, including Stewart's version of Cat Stevens's “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” was “Tonight's the Night,” the largest-selling single of 1976; however, the critical success that Stewart had enjoyed was fast approaching an end. The hits continued to come (including the chart-topping “Do Ya Think I'm Sexy” in the late 1970s and a number of Top Ten hits in the 1980s), but increasingly Stewart wrote and recorded fewer of his own songs and showed dubious taste in the songs he covered. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Representative Works

● “Handbags and Gladrags” (1969)

● “Gasoline Alley” (1970)

● Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)

● Never a Dull Moment (1972)

● “The Killing of Georgie” (1976)

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