Rod Stewart: From busking in the 1960s to starring at Glastonbury

Powys County Times

29-06-2025

From starting as a busker on the streets of London with guitarist Wizz Jones in the early 1960s and rising to fame as the lead singer of the Faces, Sir Rod Stewart arrives at Glastonbury at the latter stage of a stellar career.
The 80-year-old will appear at Worthy Farm in the Sunday tea time legends slot, where he is expected to reunite with Faces and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood.
Faces drummer Kenney Jones also hinted to the PA news agency earlier this year that he may join the pair.
Faces
Beginning from the ashes of the disbanded Small Faces in 1969, Sir Rod and Wood joined up with the broken-up band's keyboard player Ian McLagen, drummer Jones and bass player and singer Ronnie Lane, when Small Faces singer and guitarist Steve Marriott formed Humble Pie.
Their first two albums First Step (1970), which still carried the old Small Faces name in the US upon its release, and Long Player (1971) saw limited commercial success, but A Nod Is As Good As A Wink… To A Blind Horse, also released in 1971, sent them to number two in the UK albums chart.
The single Stay With Me, taken from the band's third LP, peaked at number six in the UK charts and has gone on to become one of Sir Rod's best-known songs, regularly performed at his concerts.
Fourth album Ooh La La (1973) saw lead single Cindy Incidentally reach number two on the UK singles chart, while standalone single Pool Hall Richard also reached the top 10 in the same year.
It was followed up with the single You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything (Even Take The Dog For A Walk, Mend A Fuse, Fold Away The Ironing Board, Or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings), which reached number 12, but would be the last released by the band before they broke-up in 1975.
Sir Rod's bandmates also backed him on his solo records released between 1969 and 1974, playing on his earliest number one singles Maggie May and You Wear It Well.
Since their break-up, surviving original members Sir Rod, Wood and Jones have reunited to perform on a number of occasions, the most recent coming at the Brit Awards in 2020. The band are strongly rumoured to be releasing a new album next year.
Sir Rod's career outside of the band
Prior to joining the Faces, Sir Rod started out as a folk singer busking on the streets of London with Wizz Jones and went on to appear in a number of bands during the mid-1960s, before first coming to public attention as the singer in The Jeff Beck Group.
The band, formed in 1967 after Beck left The Yardbirds, where he first played with Wood, released the albums Truth and Beck-Ola. While he was in the Faces, the singer sang guest vocals for the Australian group Python Lee Jackson on In A Broken Dream, initially released in 1970.
Sir Rod released his first five solo albums while still a member of the Faces, continuing the rock and roll and folk sounds the band explored, before venturing into pop with 1975's Atlantic Crossing.
The album featured top 10 singles Sailing and a cover of The Isley Brothers' This Old Heart Of Mine, with the former reaching number one in the UK singles chart.
The singer has gone on to release 32 solo studio LPs, producing number ones such as Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?, Baby Jane and the double a-side of I Don't Want To Talk About It and The First Cut Is The Deepest.
He most recently released the album Swing Fever with pianist and TV presenter Jools Holland last year, a collection of classic songs from the big band era such as Frankie And Johnny, Good Rockin' Tonight and Pennies From Heaven.
What has Sir Rod been doing lately?
Ahead of the release of Swing Fever, Sir Rod and Holland made a surprise appearance at St Pancras International station to perform at its piano, and is slated to embark on a tour of 'intimate' venues next year in support of the record.
In a statement on Instagram, Sir Rod announced he would end 'large-scale world tours' after 2025, when his US tour ends on August 15 at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in St Louis, Missouri, but ruled out retiring any time soon.
On January 10, Sir Rod celebrated his 80th birthday with wife Penny Lancaster, who he married in 2007, and their children.
He was recently awarded the lifetime achievement award at the American Music Awards (AMAs), where he was presented with the award by five of his children.
What will he play?
With Wood and possibly Jones in tow, fans should expect some classic Faces hits such as Stay With Me, Cindy Incidentally and Pool Hall Richard, with the possibility of a few fan favourites such as Too Bad, That's All You Need and Three Button Hand Me Down.
It is almost certain that mega hits such as Maggie May, You Wear It Well and Hot Legs will get an airing, however the Faces reunion may ensure Sir Rod sticks to his pre-1975 material.
Previous Glastonbury performance
Sir Rod previously performed on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2002, where he opened with his cover of Handbags And Gladrags, before going on to delve into the Faces catalogue with Ooh La La and Stay With Me, and perform covers of songs by the likes of Tom Waits, Van Morrison and Tim Hardin.