Born in Highgate, North London on 10th January 1945 to a Scottish father and an English mother. Rod’s two brothers and two sisters were all born in Scotland. Rod is a passionate Scot and no doubt dreamt of playing at Celtic Park when he signed apprentice forms for Brentford Football Club in West London.
Football in the early sixties was not as glamorous as it is today and he didn’t take well to the discipline and he dropped out. However football’s loss the fans that get to see Rod Stewart at o2 Dublin will be eternally grateful to. He credit’s Al Jolson with being his greatest early influence. However, as a teenager his musical interest moved from folk to blues and soul and he would spend hours trying to imitate heroes Sam Cooke and Otis Redding.
He got his big break aged 19, when a chance meeting led to him being invited to join Long John Baldry’s Hoochie Coochie Men. Rod Stewart at o2 Dublin will be a far cry from the painfully shy young Rod who would endure those early gigs partly hidden by the stage amplifier. When the Hoochie Coochie Men split he moved on to a group called Steampacket, followed by the widely acclaimed Jeff Beck Group. Rod yearned for a role as a lead singer, his talent was to catapult him to superstardom when the Small Faces reformed and he was asked to join the new group called simply ‘The Faces’.
Destiny was to hand him another huge slice of luck, when a Cleveland DJ flipped over his solo single ‘Reason to Believe’ and the iconic song which all of the Rod Stewart at o2 Dublin fans will be singing along to ‘Maggie May’ became a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
His hits of the last 40 years are too numerous to mention but include Sailing, You Wear It Well and I Don’t Want To Talk About it through to the recently released Soulbook album. Which although an album of cover versions includes little gems such Tracks Of My tears and It’s The Same Old Song. You can find accommodation for Rod Stewart at o2 Dublin here. The Irish tour starts in Dublin on 11/12 May before moving North to the Odyssey Arena , Belfast on 15/16 May. Despite the dates being listed as Sold Out tickets are still widely available through all of the major ticket brokers but please be careful to check the booking fees which are added to the face value.
The tour moves on to England after Ireland and then several European cities before fittingly finishing at the SECC Glasgow, Scotland on 24 July 2010. Having attended the concerts now since the early seventies this writer can testify the shows highlight Rod as a great performer, the consummate professional and he still shows off his soccer skills by launching footballs into the crowd at regular intervals.