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A life for entertainment: Sir Rod Stewart still loves rock'n'roll even in his old age.

(Bild: APA/AP)

He will soon be putting an end to major world tours. But Rod Stewart has planned 40 concerts around the globe for 2025. The highlight will be a prestigious performance at the famous Glastonbury Festival in England. The British cult singer has the legend slot there and will delight around 120,000 visitors with global hits such as "Maggie May" and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?". But before that, there's a birthday to celebrate: Rod Stewart turns 80 today, January 10.

The rock and pop veteran is not lacking in self-confidence ahead of his milestone birthday. "I'm more than capable of thrilling and entertaining the audience," he said at 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 entitled "The Encore".

Love of doing
The motto of his European tour is "One last time", which is not to be taken literally. Because even if the musician with the iconic blonde mane is hinting at an end to long concert tours - there is no talk of retirement. He is not thinking about quitting, he emphasized at X. "I love what I do and I do what I love. I'm fit, I have a full head of hair and I can run the 100 meters in 18 seconds."

The man with the distinctive voice, who was born in 1945 to a Scottish father and an English mother, goes by his full name Roderick David Stewart. He first caused a sensation as the frontman of the Jeff Beck Group. He joined the exceptional guitarist's band in 1967, but left two years later because the musical direction no longer suited him.

Breakthrough a good 50 years ago
Together with the 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". However, Faces went their separate ways as early as 1975. By then, Stewart had long since established himself as a solo artist.

The Brit had already 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 mixture of rock, folk and blues is considered a classic today. "Maggie May", originally intended as a B-side, became a huge hit.

Firm almost everywhere
From then on, success rained down. And Stewart, who was regarded as a sex symbol, mastered every genre - almost. "I can't sing opera 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. I'd make a mockery of myself if I did."

With "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", the rocker created a classic of the disco era, then effortlessly switched to the emerging synth-pop with "Young Turks". Ballads such as "Every Beat Of My Heart" or the Van Morrison cover "Have I Told You Lately" also became his specialty.

Also big with cover versions
Sir Rod, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2016, often drew on the repertoire of other artists. In later years, he specialized in this at times. 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 warm at the same time, with emotional depth - is considered one of the most famous in rock and pop music. However, his singing style changed during his career. In the beginning, Stewart sounded wild and bluesy. In the 80s, his voice became somewhat smoother. In old age, the timbre is a little higher, the vocals no longer quite as powerful, but still unmistakably Rod Stewart.

Meeting up with old friends
He later appeared 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, the long-term reunion that many fans had hoped for never materialized.

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, he is married for the third time 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 an apartment in east London.

Celtic above all else
Besides music, he is passionate about model trains and soccer. Stewart is an ardent fan of Celtic Glasgow and the Scottish national team. In his youth, he himself was considered a talented footballer and completed a trial at what is now Premier League club FC Brentford, which was in the third division at the time.

The fact that he is in top form today at 80 and after overcoming prostate cancer a few years ago is due to the fact that he actively followed the sport. "I've always played soccer," said Stewart in the dpa interview. "It was only eight years ago or so that I stopped playing soccer competitively. But I've always kept fit."

There are more live plans
He also sounds fit on "Swing Fever", his latest 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 want to do it, then I'll organize it myself." Sounds like not only retirement, but also the planned end to touring is a long way off.