By Sundi Rose

Rod Stewart began his career as a respected interpretative singer and an accomplished songwriter. He created a raw combination of folk, rock, blues and country that sounded like no other folk or country-rock. Instead of finding the folk in rock, he found how folk rocked on its own. His career started as a collaborative effort, as he sang for groups like Faces and the Jeff Beck Group but found his footing as an artist in 1971 with his hit solo album Every Picture Tells A Story. That album had the unforgettable Maggie May on it and launched him into the mainstay of popular music. After Rod became hugely successful his distinctive throaty, almost scratchy-sounding voice has become one of the most recognizable in our American cannon of music. Rod won a Grammy for Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III in 2004 and continues to be one of the most beloved singer/songwriters of our time. Growing up in working class London, Rod was neither affluent or poor.

Born in Highgate suburb he says, “I was the youngest of five children and a bit of a spoiled child. I had a fantastically happy childhood but school wasn’t my thing. All my effort was put into railway modeling and playing soccer.” He would find a love far greater than his affection for soccer when his father bought him a guitar at the age of eleven. He learned the folk tune “It Takes a Worried Man to Sing a Worried Tune” and the first record he ever bought was Eddie Cochran’s C’mon Everybody. His introduction to rock and roll was Little Richard’s hit The Girl Can’t Help It and the rest is, as they say, history.

Rod moved to the United States in 1975 and reached the top of the U.S. charts with “Tonight's the Night” from A Night on the Town. He continued to have a slicker, more pop sound as the decade progressed and his fan base began to widen, he started to appeal to a more popular sense of music. He began touring and performing nationally and is known, still today, for his enduring charm and enchanting stage presence. When asked about a favorite performance, he recalls the Rock in Rio Festival in 1985 where he sang for an audience of over 100,000 fans. He says of that moment, “that performance during a stormy night was like winning the world soccer championship.” Rod has received many accolades during his career but he says he most enjoyed “the day I received a star on the HollywoodWalk of Fame in 2005.” Even more than the receipt of awards and nominations however, is the friendships he has made along the way.

He treasures “some of the quotes from some of the best in the industry. Like when Elton John said; ‘Bar none, he’s the best singer I’ve heard in rock n’roll.’ Or when soul legend, James Brown called me music’s “best white soul singer” in 2006. That was very special to me.” With all the admiration from so many, it would be easy to think that Rod’s life has been filled with nothing but luck. To the contrary, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1999 for which he underwent surgery and aside from the obvious health concerns the surgery threatened his voice. He says of his time after the surgery, “I had to re-learn how to sing. Since then, I have been active in raising funds for The City of Hope Foundation charity to find cures for all forms of cancer, especially those affecting young children.”

Now, still making great music and feeling good, Rod is enjoying some much deserved personal success. He and his wife, model Penny Lancaster-Stewart, had his seventh child in November 2005 in London and were married in 2007 on board the yacht Lady Ann Magee in the Italian port of Portofino. Rod Stewart remains one of the most recognizable personalities in entertainment and continues to make music that can be enjoyed by the generations. svm