 Sir Roderick David Rod Stewart, is a British rock singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. Stewart is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. He has had six consecutive number one albums in the UK and his tally of 62 UK hit singles includes 31 that reached the top 10, six of which gained the number one position. Stewart has had 16 top 10 singles in the US, with four reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. He was knighted in the 2016 birthday honours for services to music and charity. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and the early 1970s with the Jeff Beck group, and then with Faces, though his music career had begun in 1962 when he took up busking with a harmonica. In October 1963, he joined the Dimensions as a harmonica player and part-time vocalist. In 1964, Stewart joined Long John Baldry and the All Stars, and in August, Stewart signed a solo contract, releasing his first single, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, in October. He maintained a solo career alongside a group career, releasing his debut solo album, An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down in 1969. Stewart's early albums were a fusion of rock, folk music, soul music and R&B. From the late 1970s through the 1990s, Stewart's music often took on a new wave or soft rock middle of the road quality, and in the early 20s, he released a series of successful albums interpreting the Great American Songbook. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the Billboard Hot 100 all-time top artists. A Grammy and Brit Award recipient, he was voted at number 33 in Q magazine's list of the top 100 greatest singers of all time, and number 59 on Rolling Stone 100 greatest singers of all time. As a solo artist, Stewart was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and was inducted a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Faces. Early Life Roderick David Stewart was born at 507 Archway Road Highgate, North London on January 10, 1945, the youngest of five children of Robert Stewart and Elsie Gilbert. His father was Scottish and had been a master builder in Leith, Edinburgh, while Elsie was English and had grown up in Upper Holloway in North London. Married in 1928, the couple had two sons and two daughters while living in Scotland, and then they moved to Highgate. Stewart came after an eight-year gap following his youngest sibling, he was born at home during World War II.For many years it was said that Stewart had been born a half hour after a German V2 missile warhead fell on the local Highgate police station. In his 2012 autobiography, Stewart said that was just one of those legends, fables, and downright lies told in the name of publicity and that the V2 hit and his birth were separated by some weeks. There was a deadly V2 strike very near the southern end of the Archway Road on November 5, 1944, some two miles from the Stewart domicile.The family was neither affluent nor poor, Stewart was spoiled as the youngest, and has called his childhood fantastically happy.He had an undistinguished record at Highgate Primary School and failed the 11-plus exam. He then attended the William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School, later Fortesmere School, Muswell Hill. His father retired from the building trade at age 65, buying a newsagents shop on the Archway Road when Stewart was in his early teens, the family lived over the shop.Towart's main hobby was railway modelling. The family was mostly focused on football, Stewart's father had played in a local amateur team and managed some teams as well, and one of Stewart's earliest memories were the pictures of Scottish players such as George Young and Gordon Smith that his brothers had on the wall.Towart was the most talented football scholar in the family and was a strong supporter of Arsenal FC at the time.Combining natural athleticism with near-reckless aggression, he became captain of the school football team and played for Middlesex Schoolboys as centre half. The family were also great fans of the singer Al Jolson and would sing and play his hits.Stewart collected his records and saw his films, read books about him, and was influenced by his performing style and attitude towards his audience.Is introduction to rock and roll was hearing little Richard's 1956 hit The Girl Can't Help It, and seeing Bill Haley and his comets in concert. His father bought him a guitar in January 1959, the first song he learned was the folk tune It Takes a Worried Man to Sing a Worried Song, the first record he bought was Eddie Cochranskman Everybody.In 1960, he joined a skiffle group with school friends called The Cool Cats, playing Lonnie Donoghan and Chas McDevitt hits. Stewart left school at age 15 and worked briefly as a silk screen printer.Spurred on by his father, his ambition was to become a professional footballer.In summer 1960, he went for trials at Brentford FC, a third division club at the time. Contrary to some long-standing accounts, Stewart states in his 2012 autobiography that he was never signed to the club and that the club never called him back after his trials.Over the years, considerable backstory has accumulated about Stewart's involvement with Brentford FC. It was said that he joined on as an apprentice with them.T. disliked the early morning travel to West London and the daily assignment to clean the first team's boots. His playing effectiveness at centre half was supposedly hindered by his slight build but only and he pushed himself so much that he sometimes vomited at the side of the pitch. One biography claimed he was there for two months including pre-season fixtures, that he left the team to the great disappointment of his father, and that he later reflected, �I had the skill but not the enthusiasm.� Another biography gave an undated Stewart quote saying he was there for three weeks, paid £8 per seven-day week, but never played in any form.In a 2004 Rolling Stone interview, Stewart said he went three or four times a week and did play. In 1995, Brentford Deputy President Eric White was quoted as saying, �He trained with us for a week or two, and he may even have kicked a ball around with the juniors, but there is no record of Rod Stewart ever having signed to Brentford.� Unfortunately, nobody at the club remembers his time here. In his 2012 autobiography, Stewart attributes all of this to a tale that took on its own life, partly and deliberately helped by statements he made in interviews, such as to talk show host Michael Parkinson. In any case, regarding possible career options, Stewart concluded, �Well, a musician�s life is a lot easier and I can also get drunk and make music, and I can�t do that and play football. I plumped for music. They�re the only two things I can do actually, play football and sing.� Music career 1961-63, early work and the dimensions Stewart worked in the family shop and as a newspaper delivery boy. He then worked briefly as a laborer for Highgate Cemetery, which became another part of his biographical lore. He worked in a North Finchley funeral parlor round as a fence erector and sign writer.In 1961 he went to Denmark Street with the Raiders and got a singing audition with well-known record producer Joe Meek, but Meek stopped the session with a rude sound. Stewart began listening to British and American topical folk artists such as Ewan McColl, Alex Campbell, Woody Guthrie, Ramblin Jack Elliott, and especially Daryl Adams and the debut album of Bob Dylan. Stewart became attracted to beatnik attitudes and left-wing politics, living for a while in a beatnik houseboat at Shoreham by C.he was an active supporter of the campaign for nuclear disarmament at this time, joining the annual Aldermaston marches from 1961 to 1963 and being arrested on three occasions when he took part in sit-ins at Trafalgar Square and Whitehall for the cause. E also used the marches as a way to meet and bedgirls.In 1962 he had his first serious relationship, with London. Art student Susanna Buffay, and a friend of future model and actress Chrissy Shrimpton, he moved to a bed-sit in Muswell Hill to be near her. She became pregnant, but neither Rod nor his family wanted him to enter marriage, the baby girl was given up for adoption and Rod's and Susanna's relationship ended. In 1962, Stewart began hanging around folk singer Wiz Jones, busking at Lester Square and other London spots. Stewart took up playing the then-fashionable Harmonica dot on several trips over the next 18 months Jones and Stewart took their act to Brighton and then to Paris, sleeping under bridges over the River Seine, and then finally to Barcelona. Finally this resulted in Stewart being rounded up and deported from Spain for vagrancy during 1963.At this time, Stewart, who had been at William Grimshaw School with three of their members, was briefly considered as singer for the embryonic kinks. In 1963, Stewart adopted the Maud lifestyle and look, and began fashioning the spiky rooster hairstyle that would become his trademark, it was made possible with sugar water or large amounts of his sister's hair lacquer, back combing, and his hands holding it in place to protect it from the wines of the Highgate Underground Station. Disillusioned by rock and roll, he saw Otis Redding perform in concert and began listening to Sam Cooke Records, he became fascinated by rhythm and blues and soul music. After returning to London, Stewart joined a rhythm and blues group, The Dimensions, in October 1963 as a Harmonica player and part-time vocalist.It was his first professional job as a musician, although Stewart was still living at home and working in his brother's painting and picture frame shop. A somewhat more established singer from Birmingham, Jimmy Powell, then hired the group a few weeks later, and it became known as Jimmy Powell and The Five Dimensions, with Stewart being relegated to Harmonica player.The group performed weekly at the famed Studio 51 club on Great Newport Street in London, where the Rolling Stones often headlined, this was Stewart's entree into the thriving London R&B scene and his Harmonica playing improved in part from watching Mick Jagger on stage. Relations soon broke down between Powell and Stewart over roles within the group and Stewart departed. Contrary to popular legend, during this time Stewart likely did not play Harmonica on Millie Small's 1964 hit My Boy Lollipop. That was probably Peter Hogman of The Dimensions, although Powell has also claimed credit.Owl did record and release a single during this period, though Stewart did not appear on it. 1964-67, Steam Packet and Rod the Mod Image In January 1964, while Stewart was waiting at Twickenham Railway Station after having seen long John Baldry and the All-Stars at Eel Pie Island Baldry heard him playing smokestack lightnin on his Harmonica, and invited him to sit in with the group, which passed into his hands and was renamed the Hucci-Cucci Men when Cyril Davies died of endocarditis on January 7. When Baldry discovered Stewart was a singer as well, he offered him a job for £35 a week, after securing the approval of Stewart's mother.Quitting his day job at age 19, Stewart gradually overcame his shyness and nerves and became a visible enough part of the act that he was sometimes added to the billing as Rod the Mod Stewart he nickname coming from his dandyish style of grooming and dress.Baldry touted Stewart's abilities to Melody Maker magazine and the group enjoyed a weekly residence at London's Fabled Marquis Club.In June 1964, Stewart made his recording debut, without label credit, on up. Above my head, the B-side to a Baldry and Hucci-Cucci Men single. While still with Baldry, Stewart embarked on a simultaneous solo career. He made some demo recordings The demo recordings were later released in 1976, against Stewart's wishes. He appeared on several regional television shows around the country and recorded his first single in September 1964. Turning down Decca's recommended material as too commercial, Stewart insisted that the experienced session musicians he was given, including John Paul Jones, learn a couple of sunny boy Williamson songs he had just heard. The resulting single, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, was recorded released in October 1964, despite Stewart performing it on the popular television show Ready Steady Go, it failed to enter the charts. Also in October Stewart left the Hucci-Cucci Men after having a row with Baldry. Stewart played some dates on his own in late 1964 and early 1965, sometimes backed by the South Hampton R&B outfit The Soul Agents. The Hucci-Cucci Men broke up, Baldry and Stewart patched up their differences, and indeed became lifelong friends, and legendary impresario Giorgio Gamelsky put together Steam Packet, which featured Baldry, Stewart, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, Mickey Waller, Vic Briggs and Ricky Fenson, their first appearance was in support of the Rolling Stones in July 1965. The group was conceived as a white soul review, analogous to the Ike and Tina Turner review, with multiple vocalists and styles ranging from jazz to R&B to blues. Steam Packet toured with the Stones and the Walker Brothers that summer, ending in the London Palladium, seeing the audience react to the Stones gave Stewart his first exposure to crowd hysteria. Stewart, who had been included in the group upon Baldry's insistence, ended up with most of the male vocal parts.Steam Packet was unable to enter the studio to record any material due to its members all belonging to different labels and managers although Gamelsky did record one of their marquee club rehearsals. These later surfaced in 1971 as part of Gamelsky's rock generation releases on BYG Records, the poorly recorded material has been repackaged as Rod Stewart and Steam Packet many. Times since. Stewart's Rod the mod image gained wider visibility in November 1965, when he was the subject of a 30 minute read-a-fusion, London television documentary titled An Easter with Rod that portrayed the mod scene.His parallel solo career attempts continued on Emmy's Columbia label with the November 1965 release of The Day Will Come, a more heavily arranged pop attempt, and the April 1966 release of his take on Sam Cooke's Shake, with the Brian Auger-Trinity dot both failed commercially and neither gained positive notices. Stewart had spent the better part of two years listening mostly to Cooke, he later said, I didn't sound like anybody at all, but I knew I sounded a bit like Sam Cooke, so I listened to Sam Cooke. This recording solidified that singer's position as Stewart's idol and most enduring influence, he called it a crossing of the water. Stewart departed from Steam Packet in March 1966 with Stewart saying he had been sacked and Auger saying he had quit.Stewart then joined a somewhat similar outfit, Shotgun Express, in May 1966 a CO-lead vocalist with Barrel Marsden.He other members included Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green, who would go on to form Fleetwood Mac, and Peter Bartons.Shotgun Express released one unsuccessful single in October 1966, the orchestra heavy I could feel the whole world turn round, before. Disbanding dot to wart later disparaged Shotgun Express as a poor imitation of Steam Packet, and said I was still getting this terrible feeling of doing other people's music. I think you can only start finding yourself when you write your own material. By now, Stewart had bounced around without achieving much success, with little to distinguish himself among other aspiring London singers other than the emerging rasp in his voice. 1967-69, Jeff Beck Group period. Guitarist Jeff Beck recruited Stewart for his new post-Yardbirds venture, and in February 1967, Stewart joined the Jeff Beck Group as vocalist and sometime songwriter. This would become the big break of his early career.There he first played with Ronnie Wood whom he had first met in a London pub in 1964, the two soon became fast friends.During its first year, the group experienced frequent changes of drummers and conflicts involving manager Mickie most wanting to reduce Stewart's role, they toured the UK, and released a couple of singles that featured Stewart on their b-sides.Stewart's sputtering solo career also continued, with the March 1968 release of non. Hit little misunderstood on immediate records. The Jeff Beck Group toured Western Europe in spring 1968, recorded, and were nearly destitute, then assistant manager Peter Grant booked them on a six-week tour of the United States starting in June 1968 with the film or East in New York. He first time in America Stewart suffered terrible stage fright during the opening show and hid behind the amplifier banks while singing, only a quick shot of Brandy brought him out front.Nevertheless, the show and the tour were a big success with Robert. Shelton of the New York Times calling the group exciting and praising the interaction of Mr. Beck's wild and visionary guitar against the horse and insistent shouting of Rod Stewart, and New Musical Express reporting that the group was receiving standing ovations and pulling receipts equal to those of Jimi Hendrix and the doors. In August 1968, their first album Truth was released, by October it had risen to number 15 on the US Albums Chart but failed to chart in the UK.The album featured Beck's masterly guitar technique and manipulated sounds as Stewart's dramatic vocalizing tackled the group's varied repertoire of blues, folk, rock and proto heavy metal. Stewart also wrote three of the songs and credited the record for helping to develop his vocal abilities and the sandpaper quality in his voice.The group toured America again at the end of the year to a very strong reception, then suffered from more personnel upheaval, something that would continue throughout Beck's career. In July 1969, Stewart left, following his friend Wood's departure.Stewart later recalled, It was a great band to sing with but I couldn't take all the aggravation and unfriendliness that developed. In the two and a half years I was with Beck I never once looked him in the eye I always looked at his shirt or something like that. The group's second album, Beckola, was released in June 1969 in the US and September 1969 in the UK, bracketing the time the group was dissolving, it also made number 15 in the US Albums Chart and placed to number 39 in the UK Albums Chart. During his time with the group, Stewart initially felt overmatched by Beck's presence, and his style was still developing, but later Stewart felt the two developed a strong musical, if not personal, report.Much of Stewart's sense of phrasing was developed during his time with the Jeff Beck group.Beck sought to form a new supergroup with Carmina Piss and Tim Bogart, of the similarly just breaking up vanilla fudge, joining him and Stewart, but Stewart had other plans. 1969-75, solo career established and Faces Albums Mercury records on Darman Lou Rizner had seen Stewart perform with Beck, and on October 8, 1968 signed him to a solo contract, but contractual complexities delayed Stewart's recording for him until July 1969. Meanwhile, in May 1969, guitarist and singer Steve Marriott left English band The Small Faces.Ron Wood was announced as the replacement guitarist in June and on October 18, 1969, Stewart followed his friend and was announced as their new singer.The two joined existing members Ronnie Lane, Ian, McLogan, and Kenny Jones, who soon decided to call the new line-up Faces. An old raincoat won't ever let you down became Stewart's first solo album in 1969, it was known as the Rod Stewart Album in the US. It established the template for his solo sound, a heartfelt mixture of folk, rock and country blues, inclusive of a British working class sensibility, with both original material, Cindy's Lament and the title song, and cover versions, Ewan McColl's Dirty Old Town and Mike Dabio's Handbags and Glad Rags. The backing band on the album included Wood, Waller and McLogan, plus Keith Emerson and guitarists Martin Pugh, of Steam Hammer, and later Armageddon and Seventh Order, and Martin Quittenton, also from Steam Hammer. Faces released their debut album First Step in early 1970 with a rock and roll style similar to the Rolling Stones. While the album did better in the UK than in the US, the Faces quickly earned a strong live following. Stewart released his second album, Gasoline Alley that autumn. Rod's approach was similar to his first album, as exemplified by the title track, and Mandolin was introduced into the sound. He then launched a US tour with the Faces. Stewart sang guest vocals for the Australian group Python Lee Jackson on In A Broken Dream, recorded in April 1969 but not released until 1970. His payment was a set of seat covers for his car. It was re-released in 1972 to become a worldwide hit. Stewart's 1971 solo album Every Picture Tells a Story made him a household name when the B-side of his minor hit Reason to Believe, Maggie May, See You Written with Martin Quittenton, started receiving radio play. The album and the single hit number one in both the US and the UK simultaneously, a chart first, in September. Set off by a striking Mandolin part, by Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne, Maggie May was also named in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fam's 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll, one of three songs by him to appear on that list. The rest of the album was equally strong, with Mandolin Wind again showcasing that instrument, I know, I'm losing you adding heart-edged soul to the mix, and tomorrow is a long time, a cover of a Bob Dylan song. But the ultimate manifestation of the early Stewart solo style was the Stewart woodpend Every Picture Tells a Story itself, powered by Mick Waller's drumming, Pete Sears's piano and Wood's guitar work in a largely acoustic arrangement, it is a fast, rocking, head-long romper relating the picaresque adventures of the singer. The second Faces album, Long Player, was released in early 1971 and enjoyed greater chart success than first step. Faces also got their only US Top 40 hit with Stay With Me from their third album A Not Is As Good As A Wink, to A Blind Horse released in late 1971.This album reached the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic on the back of the success of Every Picture Tells a Story. Steve Jones from The Sex Pistols regarded the Faces very highly and named them as a main influence on the British punk rock movement. The Faces toured extensively in 1972 with growing tension in the band over Stewart's solo career enjoying more success than the bands. Stewart released Never A Dull Moment in the same year. Repeating the Every Picture formula, for the most part, it reached number two on the US album charts and number one in the UK and enjoyed further good notices from reviewers. You Wear It Well was a hit single that reached number 13 in the US and went to number one in the UK, while twisting the night away made explicit Stewart's debt to Sam Cooke. For the body of his early solo work Stewart earned tremendous critical praise. Rolling Stones 1980 illustrated history of rock and roll includes this in its Stewart entry. Rarely has a singer had as full and unique a talent as Rod Stewart, rarely has anyone betrayed his talent so completely. Once the most compassionate presence in music, he has become a bilious self-parody and sells more records than ever, a writer who offered profound lyricism and fabulous self-deprecating humor, teller of tall tales and honest heartbreaker, he had an unmatched eye for the tiny details around which lives turn, shatter and reform, and a voice to make those details indelible. His solo albums were defined by two special qualities, warmth, which was redemptive, and modesty, which was liberating. If ever any rocker chose the role of every man and lived up to it, it was Rod Stewart. The Faces released their final album Ullala, which reached number one in the UK and number 21 in the US in 1973. Earring the recording of the album, the rift between Stewart and the rest of the Faces grew further, as, according to Ian McLaughlin, Stewart didn't participate until two weeks into the sessions, and then complained that some songs were in the wrong key for him. So we recorded them again and waited a week for him to come back. We cut the track for Ullala three times before he eventually passed on it, leaving it for Woody to sing. The week the album came out he did all he could to scuttle it and told anyone who would listen how useless it was. The band toured Australasia, Japan, Europe and the UK in 1974 to support the album and the single Pool Hall Richard. In late 1974, Stewart released his Smiler album. In Britain, it reached number one, and the single farewell number seven, but only number 13 on the Billboard Pop album charts and the single Mine for Me only number 91 on the Billboard Pop singles charts. It was his last original album for Mercury Records. After the release of the double album compilation The Best of Rod Stewart he switched to Warner Brothers Records and remained with them throughout the vast majority of his career. Faces were signed to Warner Brothers, and Stewart's solo releases in the UK appeared on the Riva label until 1981. In 1975, faces toured the US twice, with Ronnie Wood joining the Rolling Stones US tour in between, before Stewart announced the faces break up at the end of the year. 1975-88, height of fame and critical reaction. In 1975, Stewart moved to Los Angeles. He released the Atlantic Crossing album for his new record company, using producer Tom Doud and a different sound based on the Muscle Shoals rhythm section. Atlantic Crossing marked both a return to form and a return to the top 10 of the Billboard album charts. The first single, a cover of the Sutherland Brothers song Sailing, was a number one hit in the UK, but it only reached the top 60 of the US charts. The single returned to the UK top 10 a year later when used as the theme music for a BBC documentary series about HMS Ark Royal. Having been a hit twice over, Sailing became, and remains, Stewart's biggest selling single in the UK. His Holland Dosier Holland cover This Old Heart of Mine was also a top 100 hit in 1976.In 1976 Stewart covered the Beatles song Get Back for the musical documentary All This and World War II. Later in 1976, Stewart topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and the Australian Aria chart with the Ballad Tonight's The Night, with an accompanying music video featuring actress Brit Eklund.It came from the A Night on the Town album, which went to number two on the Billboard album charts and was Stewart's first album to go platinum. By explicitly marking the album as having a fast side and a slow side, Stewart continued the trend started by Atlantic Crossing, the first cut is the deepest, a cover of a Cat Stevens song, went number one in the UK in 1977, and top 30 in the US.The killing of Georgie, part one and two, about the murder of a gay man, was also a top 40 hit for Stewart during 1977. Footloose and Fancy Free, 1977, featured Stewart's own band, the original Rod Stewart group that featured Carmina Piss, Phil Chen, Jim Craigon, Billy Peake, Gary Granger and John Jarvis. It continued Stewart's run of chart success, reaching number two. Your In My Heart was the hit single, reaching number four in the US. Hot Legs achieved a lot of radio airplay as did the confessional I Was Only Joking. In appearance, Stewart's look had evolved to include a glam element, including makeup and spandex clothes. Stewart scored another UK number one and US number one single with Do You Think I'm Sexy?, which was a crossover hit reaching number five on the Billboard black charts due to its disco sound.This was the lead single from 1978's Blondes Have More Fun, or Do They?, which went to number one on the Billboard album charts and sold four million albums. It was to be Stewart's last number one album for 25 years. A focal point of criticisms about this period was his biggest selling 1978 disco hit Do You Think I'm Sexy?, which was atypical of his earlier output, and disparaged by critics. In interviews, Stewart, while admitting his accompanying look had become tardy, has defended the lyrics by pointing out that the song is a third person narrative slice of life portrayal, not unlike those in his earlier work, and that it is not about him. The song's refrain was identical to Brazilian Jorge Benjor's earlier Taj Mahal and a lawsuit ensued. Stewart donated his royalties from Do You Think I'm Sexy?, to UNICEF, and he performed it with his band at the Music for UNICEF concert at the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. Stewart moved to a more new wave direction in 1980 by releasing the album Foolish Behavior. The album produced one hit single, Passion, which proved particularly popular in South Africa, reaching number one on the Springbok Top 20 charts and Radio 5 charts in early 1981. It also reached number five on the US Billboard charts. In August 1981, MTV was launched in the US with several of Stewart's videos in heavy rotation. Later in 1981, Stewart added further elements of new wave and synth pop to his sound for the Tonight I'm Yours album. The title song reached number 20 in the US, while Young Turks reached the top five with the album Going Platinum.On December 18, 1981, Stewart played the Los Angeles Forum, along with Kim Carnes and Tina Turner, broadcast around the world to a television audience of 35 million. Stewart's albums Between Tonight I'm Yours, 1981, and Out of Order, 1988, received harsh reviews from many critics. He was criticized for breaking the widely observed cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa by performing at the Sun City Resort Complex in Boputaswana as part of his body wishes, 1983, and camouflage, 1984, tours. Stewart had four US Top 10 singles between 1982 and 1988, Young Turks, number five, carrying over from 1981 into 1982, some guys have all the luck, number 10, 1984, Infatuation, number six, 1984, and Love Touch, number six, 1986, a Holly Nightmike Chapman collaboration, although Baby Jane became his sixth and final UK number one in 1983. It reached number 14 in the US.The corresponding camouflage album went gold in the UK, and the single Infatuation, which featured his old friend Jeff Beck on the guitar, received considerable play on MTV. The second single some guys have all the luck reached number 15 in the UK and number 10 in the USA reunion with Jeff Beck produced a successful take on Curtis Mayfield's People Get Ready, but an attempt to tour together fell apart after a few dates. In the UK, every beat of my heart reached number two in 1986. In January 1985, Stewart performed at the Rock and Rio Festival in Rio de Janeiro before an estimated audience of over 100,000. 1988-94, out of order tour, Vagabond Heart and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1988, he returned with Out of Order, produced by Duran Duran's Andy Taylor and by Bernard Edwards of Sheik. Lost in You, Forever Young, Crazy About Her, and My Heart Can't Tell You No from that album were all top 15 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and mainstream rock charts, with the latter even reaching the top five. Forever Young was an unconscious revision of Bob Dylan's song of the same name, the artists reached an agreement about sharing royalties. The song reached number 12 in the US. In September 1988, Stewart performed Forever Young at the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, and in 1989 he received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song. In January 1989, Stewart set out on the South American leg of the Out of Order tour playing to sell out audiences throughout Americas. There were 80,000 people at his show at Corregidora Stadium, Queretaro, Mexico, April 9, and 50,000 at Jalisco Stadium, Guadalajara, Jalisco, April 12. In Buenos Aires, the audience at the River Plate Stadium, which seats 70,000+, was at over 90,000, with several thousand outside the stadium. Fire hoses were sprayed on the crowd to avoid heat prostration. Stewart's version of the Tom Waits song Downtown Train went to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990.This song was taken from a 4 CD compilation set called Storyteller the Complete Anthology, 1964-1990. Released in 1991, the Avagabond Heart album continued Stewart's renewal and inspiration. The lead single It Takes Two with Tina Turner, was released in 1990 in advance of the full album's release, and reached number 5 on the UK charts, but did not chart in the US. The follow-up songs from Avagabond Heart both reached the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991, with Rhythm of My Heart peaking at number 5 and the Motown song peaking at no 10.In 1991, Stewart also contributed guest lead vocals to the song My Town by the Canadian band Glass Tiger. At the 1993 Brit Awards in London, Stewart picked up the prize for outstanding contribution to music. Stewart brought back the faces on stage for an impromptu reunion.In 1993, Stewart recorded all for love with Sting and Brian Adams for the soundtrack to the movie The Three Musketeers, The single reached number 1 in the US and number 2 in the UK.Also in 1993, he reunited with Ronnie Wood to record an MTV unplugged special that included handbags and glad rags, cut across shorty, and four selections from every picture tells a story. The show featured an acoustic version of Van Morrison's Have I Told You Lately, which topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.A rendition of Reason to Believe also garnered considerable airplay. The resulting unplugged, and seated album reached number 2 on the Billboard 200 album charts. Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, presented by Jeff Beck. On December 31, 1994, Stewart played in front on 3.5 million people on Copacabana Beach in Rio, and made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for staging the largest free rock concert attendance in history. 1995–2001, New Ventures and Record Labels By the early 1990s, Stewart had mostly abandoned creating his own material, saying that he was not a natural songwriter and that the tepid response to his recent efforts was not rewarding. In 1995, Stewart released A Spanner in the Works containing a single written by Tom Petty, Leave Virginia Alone, which reached the top 10 of the Adult Contemporary charts. The latter half of the 1990s was not as commercially successful though the 1996 album If We Fall and Love Tonight went gold and hit number 19 on the Billboard album chart. When we were the new boys, his final album on the Warner Bros. label released in 1998, contained versions of songs by Britpop acts such as Oasis and Primal Scream, and reached number 2 on the UK album charts. That same year, he recorded the song Faith of the Heart, written by Diane Warren, for the film Patch Adams. In 2000, Stewart left Warner Bros. and moved to Atlantic Records, another division of Warner Music Group. In 2001, he released Human. The single I Can't Deny It went top 40 in the UK and top 20 in the Adult Contemporary. Stewart then signed to Clive Davis' New Jay Records label. The story so far, the very best of Rod Stewart, a greatest hits album compiled from his time at Warner Bros., went to the top 10 in the UK and reached number 1 in 2001 in, among other places, Belgium and France. 2002-10, The Great American Songbook Series and Soulbook In June 2002, Stewart performed handbags and glad rags at the party at the Palace held at Buckingham Palace Garden, a concert which celebrated the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II and featured stars from five decades of music. By 2002, Stewart had sold over 100 million records during his career.He concentrated on singing 1930s and 1940s pop standards from The Great American Songbook, written by songwriters such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George and Ira Gershwin, with great popular success. These albums have been released on Clive Davis' Jay Records label and have seen Stewart and Joy album sales equal to the 1970s. The first album from the Songbook series, It Had to Be You, The Great American Songbook, reached number 4 on the US album chart, number 8 in the UK and number 10 in Canada when released in late 2002. The track These Foolish Things, which is actually a British, not American, song, reached number 13 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart, and they can't take that away from me went top 20. The second series album, A's Time Goes By, The Great American Songbook II reached number 2 in the US, number 4 in the UK and number 1 in Canada. Bewitched, bothered and bewildered, a duet with Cher, went top 20 on the US Adult Contemporary Charts. Time After Time was another top 30 track on the US Adult Contemporary Charts.A musical called Tonight's The Night, featuring many of Stewart's songs, opened November 7, 2003 at London's Victoria Palace Theatre. It is written and directed by Ben Elton, who previously created a similar production, We Will Rock You, with music by Queen. In 2004, Stewart reunited with Ronnie Wood for concerts of Faces Material. A Rod Stewart and the Faces Best of Album, Changing Faces, reached the top 20 of the UK album charts. Five guys walk into a bar, a Faces box set compilation, was released. In late 2004, Stardust, The Great American Songbook III the third album in Stewart's Songbook series, was released. It was his first US number one album in 25 years, selling over 200,000 albums in its first week. It also debuted at number one in Canada, number three in the UK and top ten in Australia. His version of Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World, featuring Stevie Wonder, made the top 20 of the world adult charts. He also recorded a duet with Dolly Parton for the album Baby, It's Cold Outside. Stewart won his first ever Grammy Award for this album. 2005 saw the release of the fourth songbook album, Thanks for the Memory, The Great American Songbook IV it included duets with Diana Ross and Elton John. Within weeks of its release, the CD made it to number two on the top 200 list. In late 2006, Stewart made his return to rock music and his new approach to country music with the release of Still the Same. Great rock classics of our time, a new album featuring rock and southern rock milestones from the last four decades, including a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revivals Have You Ever Seen the Rain, which was released as the first single. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard charts with 184,000 copies in its first week. The number one debut was helped by a concert in New York City that was on MSN Music and an appearance on Dancing with the Stars. He performed tracks from his new album Live from the Nokia Theatre on October 9. Control Room broadcast the event live on MSN and in 117 cinemas across the country via national cinemedia. In November 2006, Stewart was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. On July 1, 2007, Stewart performed at the concert for Diana held at Wembley Stadium, London, an event which celebrated the life of Princess Diana almost 10 years after her death. He performed Sailing, Baby Jane and Maggie Mae. On December 12, he performed for the first time at the Royal Variety Performance at the London Coliseum in front of H.R.H. Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, singing another Cat Stevens number, father and son, and Bonnie Tyler's song It's a Heartache. On December 22, 2006, Stewart hosted the eighth annual A Home for the Holidays special on CBS at 8pm, PST. On May 20, 2009, Stewart performed Maggie Mae on the grand finale of American Idol season 8. On 2, July 2009, Stewart performed his only UK date that year at Home Park, Plymouth. On September 29, 2009 a 4 CD, 65 track compilation entitled Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998 was released, it is composed of previously unreleased tracks and outtakes from the bulk of his career. Stewart has also mentioned plans for a compilation of covers of Soul Classics, the possible release of another edition of the great American songbook album and a country covers album. On October 17, 2009, Stewart released the studio album Soulbook which was composed of covers of Soul and Motown songs. On November 14, 2009, Stewart recorded a TV programme in the UK for ITV that was screened on December 5, 2009. The music in the programme featured tracks from his new album and some old favourites. On January 14, 2010, Rhino Records released Stewart's Once in a Blue Moon, a lost album originally recorded in 1992, featuring 10 cover songs including The Rolling Stones Ruby Tuesday, Bob Dylan's The Groom Still Waiting at the Altar and Stevie Nicks Stand Back, as well as Tom Waits' Tom Traubert's Blues. On October 19, 2010, Stewart released another edition of his great American songbook series titled Fly Me to the Moon, The Great American Songbook Vol. 5 on Jay Records. 2011-2012, Christmas Album and Autobiography In 2011, Stewart performed with Stevie Nicks on their Heart and Soul tour. Starting on 20 March in Fort Lauderdale, Florida the tour visited arena concerts in North America with performances in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa and Montreal, among others. Stewart had lined the Sunday show at the 2011 Hard Rock Calling Festival on June 26 in London's Hyde Park Stewart signed on to a two-year residency at the Coliseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, commencing on 24 August.Performing his greatest hits, the residency also saw him perform selected tracks from his upcoming, untitled blues album. On June 7, 2012, it was announced that Stewart had signed a recording agreement with Universal Music Group. On September 4, 2012, it was announced that Stewart would be releasing his first Christmas album, titled Merry Christmas, Baby, on the Verve Music Group label, a division of Universal Music Group, on October 30, 2012. The album was produced by David Foster and features several duets, as well as an original song written by Stewart, Foster and Amy Foster called Red Suited Superman. According to IFPI, Merry Christmas, Baby was the seventh best-selling album worldwide in 2012. In October 2012, Stewart's autobiography titled Rod, The Autobiography was released, exact dates very worldwide. In November 2012, Stewart performed Ald Lang's sign from his Christmas album and his hit sailing at the Royal Albert Hall for the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, which was attended by Queen Elizabeth II. Later that month, Stewart again performed at the Royal Albert Hall in front of the Queen during the 100th Royal Variety Performance, singing When You Wish Upon a Star. On November 26, 2012, Stewart's recording of Let It Snow. Let It Snow Let It Snow, reached the top of the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart. Stewart has had the number one song on this chart three times previously, the last being in 1993 with Have I Told You Lately, giving him the second largest hiatus between number ones in the history of the chart. The song remained in the number one spot for a total of five weeks, tying it for the longest leading holiday title in the chart's 51-year history. On December 10, 2012, Stewart was a guest singer on Michael Buble's television home for the holiday's Christmas special. Stewart was the tenth best-selling artist in Canada in the year 2012 according to year-end sales data from Nielsen Soundskine Canada. In February 2013, Stewart was nominated for a Canadian Juno Award in the International Album of the Year category for his album Merry Christmas, Baby. 2013–present, Return to Songwriter Time and Another Country. In May 2013, Stewart released Time, a rock album of his own original material. It marked a return to songwriter after what Stewart termed a dark period of 20 years, he said that writing his autobiography gave him the impetus to write music again.The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, setting a new British record for the longest gap between chart-topping albums by an artist. Stewart's last number one on the chart had been Greatest Hits Volume 1 in 1979 and his last studio album to top the chart was 1970 SIX SA Night on the Town. In September 2013, Stewart presented his close friend Elton John with the first Brits Icon Award in a special show at the London Palladium, recognizing John's lasting impact on UK culture. Stewart quipped that John was the second best rock singer ever, before the two performed a duet on stage. On June 23, 2015, Stewart announced the release of a new studio album titled Another Country. It was made available for pre-order and was released on October 23, 2015. The video for the first single Love Is Is available on his Vivo account. Stewart recorded vocals with Joe Walsh on the Frankie Miller album Frankie Miller's Double Take, which was released on September 30, 2016. Personal Life In May 2000, Stewart was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, for which he underwent surgery in the same month. It had been previously reported he suffered from a benign vocal cord nodule. Besides being a major health scare, the resulting surgery also threatened his voice, and he had to relearn how to sing. Since then he has been active in raising funds for the City of Hope Foundation charity to find cures for all forms of cancer, especially those affecting children. Before returning to the UK, Stewart played for his LA Exiles team made up of mostly English expatriates plus a few celebrities, including Billy Duffy of the Colt, in a senior soccer league in Palos Verdes, California. Despite his father being a supporter of hi-hernion, Stewart is a supporter of Celtic, which he mentions in Your In My Heart. He supports the Scotland national team and follows Manchester United as his English side, and he explains his love affair with both Celtic and Manchester United in Frank Warhol's book, Celtic United. Stewart clarifies this more in his 2012 book, pp 16364, Rod, The Autobiography, mentioning he only had an attachment to Manchester United in the 1970s, but that was because they had so many great Scottish players in the 1970s, including Dennis Law. When I did eventually click with a team, it was Celtic. He presented Celtic with the trophy after they won the 2015 Scottish League Cup final. Stewart is a model railway enthusiast. His 23x124-foot, 7x37m, ho-scale layout in his Los Angeles home is modeled after the New York Central and the Pennsylvania railroads during the 1940s. Called the Three Rivers City, the layout was featured in the cover story of the December 2007, December 2010, and February 2014 issues of model railroad or magazine. In the 2007 article, Stewart said that it meant more to him to be in a model railroad magazine than a music magazine. He has a second layout at his UK home, based on Britain's east coast main line. In a sidebar to the 2014 model railroad or article, Stewart admitted, in an anecdote about his having unwittingly mixed red scenery texturing material into a turf mix he used around the bases of buildings, that he is colour blind. An auto collector, Stewart owns one of the 400 Ferrari Enzos. In 1982, Stewart was carjacked on Los Angeles Sunset Boulevard, while he was parking his $50,000 Porsche. The car was subsequently recovered. On October 11, 2005, Stewart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, star number 2093. On 18-19 April 2006, he was the guest artist and celebrity vocal coach on American Idol, leading the remaining seven finalists in singing entries from the Great American Songbook. He was appointed commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, in the 2007 New Year honours for services to music. Collecting it in July 2007 at Buckingham Palace, Stewart commented, �It�s a marvellous occasion. We�re the only country in the world to honour the common man.� He was knighted in the 2016 birthday honours for services to music and charity. Stewart was estimated to have a fortune of £150 million in the Sunday Times-rich list of 2015, making him one of the 20 wealthiest people in the British music industry. Relationships and family Stewart is known for his liaisons with women and has had eight children, by five different mothers. In reference to his divorces, 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.�