Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart, a British rock and pop singer-songwriter, has had a music career that began in 1962. His early career saw him busking with a harmonica and later joining The Dimensions as a harmonica player and vocalist in 1963. Stewart's breakthrough came in 1971 with his album "Every Picture Tells a Story," which topped the charts in multiple countries. Stewart's music has been characterized by a variety of styles, from his early rock roots to a disco and new wave period in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the early 2000s, he released a series of successful albums interpreting the Great American Songbook. Stewart was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.

Stewart's musical achievements include more than 120 million records sold worldwide, 10 number-one albums and 31 top-ten singles in the UK, and 16 top-ten singles in the US, with four reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. He has been ranked the 17th most successful artist on the "Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists" by Billboard magazine. His hit singles include "Maggie May," "Sailing," and "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)." Stewart was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Faces.

Outside of his music career, Stewart's interests include railway modeling and football. He was a talented footballer in his youth and played for Middlesex Schoolboys as a center-half. Stewart's early work experience included laboring, working in a funeral parlor, and sign-writing. He was also an active supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and participated in the annual Aldermaston Marches.