Rod Stewart has as much enthusiasm for his job today as he did when singing mainly paid off in pints and good times with his mates. He knows maintaining his connection with his audience, as he has at every phase in his career, is one of his primary job responsibilities. From playing the Fillmore East with the Jeff Beck Group in 1967 to the most recent dates of his Las Vegas residency in May, his passion for performing has been consistent.
He’ll be connecting with a pair of audience members for the first Saturday evening show in November of Rod Stewart: The Hits in a different way, when the winners of a contest for donors to The Prince’s Trust join Sir Stewart onstage to sing along. The organization provides direction for young people in the U.K. in the form of job training, employment paths and business ownership, and received a minimum $10 donation from contestants.
Stewart’s journey to stardom was somewhat serendipitous. The football skills he grew up with in Scotland didn’t lend themselves to a formal career path outside of sports, but he was firmly embedded in youth culture of the early to mid-’60s, and his passion for music led to networking with rising figures in the music scene. Steady employment came when Beck offered Stewart the position of lead singer in his first post-Yardbirds project.
Legend has it that Stewart hid behind the amplifiers at the first Jeff Beck Group show in the U.S., but he’d quickly shake off his stage fright and develop into the charismatic dancing frontman that would go on to join The Faces with Beck Group bandmate Ron Wood, then evolve into a solo act. By 1975, Wood had joined the Rolling Stones and Stewart traveled to legendary Alabama recording studio Muscle Shoals, where he would record “Sailing” and “I Don’t Want to Talk About It” for the Atlantic Crossing album.
That album marked turns in direction for Stewart, both in terms of lifestyle and location. He recorded with members of Booker T. and the MGs instead of familiar friends and acquaintances, and settled in Los Angeles. Stewart managed to avoid the pitfalls of heavy partying as he became known for dating a succession of beautiful blonde celebrities.
He also took shots for taking risks, most notably with 1978 disco smash “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy.” Fans of his blues-based rock sound shied away from the slicker pop pastures he grazed on in the ’80s, but as a live draw, Stewart never failed to deliver the goods, regardless of the era the songs he performed originated from.
As Stewart eased into the elder statesman phase of his career, he’s pretty much done whatever he wants whenever he wants, whether its recording standards or continuing to tour extensively. If the host country of a venue that offers him a small fortune to perform there doesn’t respect human rights to his satisfaction, he will refuse to play there. Fortunately, he has the job security to make those kinds of choices.
Caesars Palace, ticketmaster.com
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