Publisher's Synopsis
Sir Roderick David Stewart, CBE, born on 10th January 1945, in Highgate, London, England is a singer and songwriter, raised in London, but 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, with 62 UK chart singles, 31 having reached the top ten, six of which hit the #1 position. Stewart has had 16 top ten singles in the US, with four reaching #1 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 then The Faces, having taken up busking with a harmonica in 1962. 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 then in August, Stewart signed a solo contract, releasing his first single, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", in October. He maintained a solo career alongside the group, 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 took on a new wave or soft rock/middle-of-the-road quality then in the early 2000s, he released a series of successful albums, interpreting the Great American Songbook. In 1994, Stewart performed in the largest free rock concert in history, when he performed in front of 3.5 million people in Rio de Janeiro. 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 #33 in Q Magazine's list of the Top 100 Greatest Singers of all time, and #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 then for a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, as a member of The Faces.
