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Rod Stewart

May 15, 2014 by strictlyrock Leave a Comment

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Roderick David Stewart (born January 10, 1945), who later became known simply as Rod Stewart, grew up in London, England. Like many young boys who want to get into music, Stewart learned to play the guitar at age 11. His first musical endeavor was with the “Kool Kats,” which was a band that he had formed with some friends from school. Stewart worked hard doing various jobs, which, most notably and morbidly, included digging graves. Not wanting to spend his life with “one foot in the grave,” as they say, Stewart continued to pursue his musical dreams. In 1962 he became the lead singer of “The Ray Davies Quartet.” The band later became “The Kinks,” but Stewart got the boot before the band really took off. He later joined “Steampacket,” which toured with the Rolling Stones, but after the group went their separate ways in 1966, he became a part of the band “Shotgun Express.” The group included members Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood who would later go on to form the legendary rock band, “Fleetwood Mac.” After his work with “Shotgun…” ended he continued singing, this time with Ronnie Wood and guitarist Jeff Beck in the “Jeff Beck Group.”

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In August of 1968 the band released their first album “Truth.” The album became successful in both the United Kingdom and the US where it reached the #15 spot on the charts. They released “Beck-Ola,” in 1969, and although it too was a hit, the band broke up later that year. (The Jeff Beck Group did release more albums, just with different members.) With their “…Beck” days behind them, Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart became members of the band, which had formally been known as the “Small Faces,” “Faces,” As members of Faces, Stewart would sing and Wood played guitar. The band also included keyboardist Ian McLagan, bassist Ronnie Lane and drummer Kenney Jones. Stewart also signed with Mercury Records as a solo act, and released his first solo album in 1969, “An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down,” which was known as “The Rod Stewart Album,” in the United States. Faces released their first album; “First Step,” in 1970 and Stewart released his album, “Gasoline Alley” later that year, and Stewart began to tour as a solo artist.

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Stewart released “Every Picture Tells a Story” in May of 1971, and the album took off. It claimed the top spots on both the US and UK charts and went on to sell over a million albums. “…Picture” became Stewart’s first #1 album thanks to the track “Maggie May,” which also became his first #1 single. With his career now ballooning, Stewart was a busy man. In 1971, Faces released the album “Long Player,” as well “A Nod is as Good as a Wink…To a Blind Horse.” “…Blind Horse,” which included the track “Stay With Me” became a Top 40 hit in the US. The next year, despite the fact that he was constantly touring with Faces, Stewart released “Never a Dull Moment.” It perpetuated Stewart’s success and became the #2 album on the charts. Faces released “Ooh La La” in 1973 and Stewart released “Smiler” in October of the same year. This would be his final record for Mercury signing with Warner Bros shortly after. In 1975 Faces would split up; Ronnie Wood would continue his career with The Rolling Stones, and Stewart moved to the US, which would be documented by the release of the album “Atlantic Crossing.”

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In 1977 Stewart released the album “Foot Loose and Fancy Free,” asking the perfectly reasonable question (and musical it turns out) “Da You Think I’m Sexy?” Fans answered the question by opening their wallets/purses and buying more than 3 million albums and sending the album to the #2 spot on the charts in the US. The next year Stewart, now sporting his famous blonde hair do, released the album “Blondes Have More Fun.” Apparently he was right because “…Blondes” soared to the top of the charts and sold than 3 million albums in the US. This, however, would be his last top 10 album until the March 1991 release of “Vagabond Heart.” Although Stewart still sold millions of albums worldwide, he would not have another top ten studio album for the remainder of the 1990’s. In May of 1994 Stewart reunited with Ronnie Wood for the live album “Unplugged…and Seated” which was recorded as part of MTV’s Unplugged Series. The album included covers of the Van Morrison song “Have I Told You Lately,” and “Reason to Believe,” which both became hugely popular.

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2002’s “It Had to be You: The Great American Songbook,” would become the first in a 4 part series of albums in which Stewart covered classic songs with artists including Stevie Wonder and Cher. In 2003 he released part 2 “As Time Goes By…,” and in 2004 part 3 “Stardust…” That year Stewart also reunited with Ronnie Wood to do a series of concerts performing their pervious Faces material. In 2005 Stewart won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for “Thanks For the Memory: The Great American Songbook part 4.” In 2006 “Still the Same…Great Rock Classics of Our Time, “ became a #1 album, over 30 years since Stewarts first #1 solo record. Almost 50 years after becoming a performer, Rod Stewart is still pleasing crowds worldwide. He is set to kick off yet another tour in the summer of 2009.

 

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100 Greatest Rock & Roll Bands

  1. The Beatles
  2. The Rolling Stones
  3. Led Zeppelin
  4. Jimi Hendrix
  5. Elvis Presley
  6. The Who
  7. U2
  8. Pink Floyd
  9. The Doors
  10. The Police
  11. Elton John
  12. Metallica
  13. AC/DC
  14. Van Halen
  15. Nirvana
  16. Guns N' Roses
  17. Santana
  18. The Allman Brothers Band
  19. Bon Jovi
  20. David Bowie
  21. Grateful Dead
  22. Rush
  23. Yes
  24. Black Sabbath
  25. Bob Dylan
  26. James Brown
  27. The Beach Boys
  28. Eric Clapton
  29. Fleetwood Mac
  30. The Eagles
  31. Bob Marley
  32. Van Morrison
  33. Bruce Springsteen
  34. The Clash
  35. Queen
  36. Janis Joplin
  37. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  38. R.E.M.
  39. The Kinks
  40. Steely Dan
  41. Steve Miller Band
  42. Jethro Tull
  43. Tool
  44. The Scorpions
  45. Coldplay
  46. Stone Temple Pilots
  47. Rod Stewart
  48. Marilyn Manson
  49. Creedence Clearwater Revival
  50. KISS
  51. The Pretenders
  52. Green Day
  53. Aerosmith
  54. Tina Turner
  55. Pearl Jam
  56. Ted Nugent
  57. Pantera
  58. Motörhead
  59. Judas Priest
  60. ZZ Top
  61. Megadeth
  62. Motley Crue
  63. Alice Cooper
  64. Def Leppard
  65. Iron Maiden
  66. Billy Idol
  67. Journey
  68. Anthrax
  69. Rage Against the Machine
  70. Blue Oyster Cult
  71. Alice in Chains
  72. Genesis
  73. Red Hot Chili Peppers
  74. Chuck Berry
  75. Buddy Holly
  76. Little Richard
  77. Elvis Costello
  78. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  79. Sex Pistols
  80. Cream
  81. Frank Zappa
  82. Talking Heads
  83. Stevie Ray Vaughan
  84. Billy Joel
  85. The Band
  86. Ramones
  87. Lynyrd Skynyrd
  88. Jerry Lee Lewis
  89. Doobie Brothers
  90. Foo Fighters
  91. The Cure
  92. Soundgarden
  93. Iggy Pop
  94. Peter Gabriel
  95. The Byrds
  96. Traffic
  97. Deep Purple
  98. Blondie
  99. Velvet Underground
  100. Heart

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