“Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”: I’m not thinking about quitting – Sir Rod Stewart on his 80th birthday.

He wants to stop doing big world tours soon. But Rod Stewart has planned 40 concerts around the globe for 2025, including in Dortmund and Bremen. The highlight is a prestigious appearance at the famous Glastonbury Festival in England. The British cult singer has the legend slot there and will attract around 120,000 visitors with global hits like “Maggie May” or “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” delight.

The rock and pop veteran, who celebrates his 80th birthday today, certainly doesn’t lack self-confidence. “I am more than capable of exciting and entertaining audiences,” he said of the Glastonbury announcement. As a kind of preparation, he is giving two series of concerts in Las Vegas in March and again in May and June called “The Encore”.

His European tour is under the motto “One last time,” which is not to be taken literally. Because even if the musician with the iconic blonde mane indicates an end to long concert tours – there is no talk of retirement. He wasn’t thinking about quitting, he emphasized at

First steps with Jeff Beck, breakthrough with Faces

The man with the distinctive voice, who was born in 1945 to a Scottish father and an English mother, is called Roderick David Stewart. He first caused a stir as the frontman of the Jeff Beck Group. In 1967 he joined the exceptional guitarist’s band, but left two years later because the musical direction no longer suited him.

Together with current Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and ex-members of the band The Small Faces, he founded a new group called Faces. They achieved their international breakthrough with their second album “Long Player” from 1971 and the hit single “Stay With Me”. But as early as 1975, Faces went their separate ways. By then Stewart had long since established himself as a solo artist.

Rise to global superstardom

The Brit released his first album “An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down” at the end of the 1960s. His third, “Every Picture Tells A Story,” made the singer a star in 1971. The mix of rock, folk and blues is now considered a classic. “Maggie May”, originally intended as a B-side, became a huge hit.

From then on there was a hail of success. And Stewart, who was considered a sex symbol, mastered every genre – almost. “I can’t sing operas and I don’t know how to rap,” he joked in an interview with the German Press Agency in London. “I’ve never tried to rap either. If I did, I’d make myself a laughing stock.”

With “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” The rocker managed to create a classic of the disco era, then effortlessly switched to the emerging synth-pop with “Young Turks”. Ballads like “Every Beat Of My Heart” or the Van Morrison-covered “Have I Told You Lately” also became his specialty.

“American Songbook”, soul and Christmas albums

Sir Rod, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2016, often used other artists’ repertoire. In later years he specialized in this for a time. He released five albums with the “Great American Songbook”, classics of American music history, plus one with soul classics (“Soulbook”) and various Christmas albums.

His distinctive voice – rough and at the same time warm with emotional depth – is considered one of the most famous in rock and pop music. However, his singing style changed throughout his career. At first Stewart sounded wild and bluesy. In the 80s his voice seemed a little smoother. With age, the timbre is a little higher, the singing is no longer quite as strong, but it is still unmistakably Rod Stewart.

He later appeared again and again in the studio and on stage with former companions such as Ronnie Wood and, until his death, Jeff Beck. He even performed with the Faces again at the 2020 Brit Awards. However, this did not result in the long-term reunion that many fans had hoped for.

Lots of women and the eternal love of football

Rod Stewart’s private life is almost as varied as his musical career. He has eight children with five different women. After Alana Stewart and Rachel Hunter, his third marriage is to top model and photographer Penny Lancaster, who is the mother of his sons Alastair and Aiden. The family live in the Essex countryside and have a flat in east London.

In addition to music, his passion is model trains and football. Stewart is an ardent supporter of Celtic Glasgow and the Scottish national team. In his youth, he was considered a talented footballer and completed a trial training session with today’s Premier League club FC Brentford, which played in the third division at the time.

The fact that he is now in top shape at 80 and after recovering from prostate cancer a few years ago is because he actively followed the sport. “I always played football,” said Stewart in an interview with dpa. “It was only eight years ago or so that I stopped playing football competitively. But I’ve always kept fit.”

But no end to the tour soon?

He also sounds fit on “Swing Fever”, his current album, on which he celebrates the big band era with bandleader Jools Holland. Rod Stewart would like to sing the songs with an orchestra on tour. “I’ve already spoken to Jools,” he told the German Press Agency. “If he doesn’t feel like it, I’ll arrange it myself.” It sounds as if not only retirement but also the planned end of the tours are a long way off.