By Gary Geyer
Rod Stewart has been a rock superstar for over 30 years, has had a much envied sex life, and is a cancer survivor.
Rod’s life has been anything but dull.
As the song says, every picture tells a story, don’t it?
Starting off with a bang.
Roderick David Stewart was born
His parents owned a newsagent’s shop in
A few minutes before Rod was born, a German V-2 rocket hit a police station down the street and the explosion heralded his birth.
The pre-rock star years.
It was the early sixties and Rod opened his mind to alternative ways of thinking. He found himself interested in folk music and left wing politics. He became a beatnik and a communist;
Rod described himself: “I was your actual beatnik, mate. Your actual Jack Kerouac. Ban the bomb. You name it, we ban it. Anti-apartheid. Save cats. Save dogs. Shag in tents…What a life. What a life.”
He traveled
Back in
Rod the Mod.
During the next 10 years Rod performed in five different rock groups* before moving to the
Do you think I’m sexy?
Rod Stewart, as we all know, is famous for several things other than music. Beautiful women, for example. The list of his relationships include (actress) Britt Ekland and the two women he married—Alana Hamilton (George’s ex) and (supermodel) Rachel Hunter.
Oops. Did I say that?
An unfortunate quote of Rod’s was that he would rather have his penis cut off than to cheat on Rachel Hunter. When she later sued him for divorce it was on the grounds of adultery.
Rod met his current love, (cover-girl turned photographer) Penny Lancaster, the same night he split with Rachel.
Hotel rooms and tarts.
Although mellower than he was in the early days, Rod is amazingly unapologetic of his antics of his early rock years. He condemns today’s headline-seeking rock stars. “When I was in “The Faces,” we wouldn’t go and break up hotel rooms or go out with tarts to get ourselves in the papers. We broke up hotel rooms and went out with tarts because we bloody felt like it,” he says.
Rod, on re-marrying:
“Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and just give her a house.”
Rod, on looking young:
“The secret is to moisturize the face, I’ve been doing that since I was 17 years old.”
Rod, on songwriting:
“I wrote some of my best love songs ever when I was unhappy and my saddest love songs when I was very much in love. When I wrote You’re in My Heart, which is an uplifting song, I had just broken up with…Now who had I broken up with?”
Who thought this one up?
“The singer Rod Stewart” is an anagram for “shattered songwriter.”
Britt Ekland’s revelations:
“He (Rod) very often chose to wear my cotton panties on stage. He used to take my knickers and pull them up real tight and stick the teeny-weeny part up his bum, so all that was covered were the parts he wanted covered.”
She said of Rod’s scoliosis condition, “The one advantage of his curvature was that his rear end protruded, and no one wiggled it quite like Rod.”
Michael Jackson’s baby.
Shortly after the incident when Michael Jackson dangled his baby from his hotel window, Rod’s record company got an e-mail from Rod’s manager. It read, “Kindly find new hotel. Cannot risk Rod being struck on head by falling baby.”
Trivia question.
Q. Who is in the Guinness Book of Word Records for holding a free outdoor concert for the most people?
A. Rod Stewart. One New Year’s Eve, 1994, Rod performed in front of an estimated crowd of 3.5 million people on
He’s human after all.
Rod, who was 60 this month, has said that he can’t manage sex as often as he used to. He said “It’s quality now, not quantity. Kissing is very important.” He added however, that he still counts sex as one of his favorite past-times.
Cancer
Despite the fact that Rod works out and is in good physical shape, about a year ago he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He said, “It was a terrible shock. I mean I just went into total silence for a few days.
The fact that it was detected early made a big difference. He underwent surgery almost immediately and fortunately has made a full recovery.
Rod said he realizes now that cancer can hit anyone at any time. “I’m one of the lucky ones. I thank God. He must have given me a second chance and there’s something I have to do with the rest of my life”
Finding a purpose.
Faced with such a frightening ordeal, Rod has asked “How can I help?” He wants to do what he can for others in similar situations. He has helped raise money and publicize the City of
For a long time Rod has enjoyed a glamorous lifestyle. He has been seen at the best parties and dated and wed some of the world’s most beautiful women.
He now realizes that he can make a significant difference.
What a life. What a Life. Funny, how it works.
*Brief Rock History
Rod joined Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions (1963) as a singer and blues harp player. In 1964, (for you trivia aficionados) he played blues harp on Millie Small’s big hit record, My Boy Lollipop.
In that same year, Rod joined The Hoochie Coochie Men (which evolved into Steampacket 1964-65), whose claim to fame was supporting The Rolling Stones in 1965.
During that period, after his appearance in a documentary film on the Mod movement, Rod acquired the nickname, “Rod the Mod.”
When Steampacket broke up in 1966, Rod joined Shotgun Express (1966). Among his band-mates was Mick Fleetwood who would later go on to form Fleetwood Mac.
After Shotgun Express, there was The Jeff Beck Group (1966-1969). The group had two hit albums and toured extensively in the
By the end of 1969, the Jeff Beck Group was history, and Rod joined The Faces (1969- 1975). It was about this time he started his solo career as well.
Rod’s solo career started off big. A two-sided hit, Reason to Believe and Maggie May, made Rod Stewart a household name. Maggie May was named in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Stardust, the third album in Rod’s American Songbook series was released in late 2004. It sold 200,000 copies in the first 2 weeks and was Rod’s first number 1 album in 25 years.
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