"Wake up, Maggie,
I think I've got something to say to you..."

If there is one word to best described the gravelly-voiced singer Rod Stewart, it is “versatility.” Over a career that has spanned four decades, he has proven his abilities in just about every genre imaginable, with an impressive catalog of hits that continue to delight his fans and prove that his talent has few boundaries.

Born in London but from Scottish heritage, Rod didn’t always want to be a musician. His initial aspirations were actually to be a soccer player. But by the mid-60s, music captured his heart and he was soon performing in British R&B acts like Steampacket and Shotgun Express (which featured future Fleetwood Mac alumni, Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green.) Soon after, he was performing as the lead vocalist on albums by guitar virtuoso Jeff Beck, which led to fronting the band, Faces, that included Rolling Stones alumni Ron Wood. It was at this time that he released his first solo record, An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down.

His vocals demonstrated an ability to perform capably in diverse genres, from introspective ballads to hard-hitting rock and roll. By combining the two, he landed his first #1 hit, Maggie May. Starting with a pretty strummed mandolin, the song quickly launches into a slamming rock and roll anthem of epic proportions. The song was part of the Every Picture Tells a Story album, released in 1971. Along with Maggie May, the album also included the soulful ballad “Reason to Believe” penned by Tim Harmon. From this point on, Rod Stewart was a household name.

He followed this success with another hit in 1972 titled “You Wear it Well” and continued to perform on the side with Faces, scoring a Top-20 Hit with the rocking “Stay With Me.” Stewart would leave Faces in 1975 to focus on his solo career. Relocating to the States, his career was about to rise considerably. His next offering, the aptly named Atlantic Crossing, contained a smooth ballad, “Sailing” which soon became a favorite audience sing-along at concerts. And the following year, he released A Night On the Town, which scored him a mega-hit with the timeless ballad, “Tonight’s the Night.” Another hit from the album, the Cat Steven’s penned “The First Cut is the Deepest” further demonstrated his chart-topping abilities.

1977 saw the release of Footloose and Fancy Free, which included the Top-5 country-flavored ballad, “You’re in My Heart” featuring a lush fiddle track, and the hard-rocking “Hot Legs.” A year later, he took a stab at the disco market, with the driving dance beat of “Do You Think I’m Sexy.” Fans enthusiastically said yes, and the song and accompanying album, Blondes Have More Fun, quickly rose to #1, eventually going multi-platinum.

In the 80s, Rod Stewart’s sound took on a more synthesizer-based sound. The released of Foolish Behaviour in 1980 included the disco-new wave hybrid hit, “Passion” He followed that with another hit, “Young Turks” from the album Tonight I’m Yours. And in 1984, he returned to his rocker roots with “Infatuation” featuring old pal Jeff Beck on guitar. Part of the album, Camouflage, this release also included the hit song “Some Guys Have all the Luck.” Easily proving that truism, more hits soon followed, including “Love Touch,” “Lost in You,” “Forever Young” and the gentle Van Morrison ballad, “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You.”
 
Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, but his career hasn’t slowed. He recorded A Spanner in the Works in 1995, and When We Were the New Boys in 1998, which featured him performing covers of songs by bands such as Oasis and Primal Scream. And just to show that versatility remains an active part of his career, he has recently taken on a new persona as a crooner. His series of “Great American Songbook” recordings has featured the vocalist tackling such standards as “It Had To Be You,” “What a Wonderful World” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” The third album in the set of four, Stardust…The Great American Songbook 3, won Stewart his first ever Grammy Award.

Rock and Roll, Country, Disco, Folk, Pop, Jazz Standards – there seem to be no limits whatsoever to what Rod Stewart can do. With a seemingly Midas touch, he continues to explore new territories and revisit old familiar ones, making him perhaps one of the most versatile vocalists in modern music history.