Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer-songwriter born and raised in London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English lineage. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Rod Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with The Jeff Beck Group (1967-1969) and then Faces. He launched his solo career in 1969 with his début album An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (US: The Rod Stewart Album). His work with The Jeff Beck Group and Faces proved to be influential on the formation of the heavy metal and punk rock genres, respectively. Both bands were also pioneers of blues-rock. With his career in its fifth decade, Stewart has achieved numerous solo hit singles worldwide, most notably in the UK, where he has garnered six consecutive number one albums and his tally of 62 hit singles include 31 that reached the top 10, six of which gained the number one position. He has had 16 top ten singles in the USA, with four of these reaching number one. He has sold over 130 million records worldwide, and is one of the best selling British singers of all time. He was voted at #33 in Q Magazine's list of the top 100 Greatest Singers of all time.
