Roderick David Stewart, born on January 10, 1945 in London, England, took on a series of odd jobs, including as a grave digger, long before he established a career in singing and simply used Rod Stewart as his stage name. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he performed alongside bands The Jeff Beck Group and Faces. Rising to prominence with the bands, he took time to also embark on a solo career and signed his first recording contract in 1964. His first two albums "An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down" and "Gasoline Alley" were released in 1969 and 1970 subsequently.

His third set, "Every Picture Tells a Story" (1971) was a critical success and spawned hit single "Maggie May". Stewart relocated to US in 1975 and experienced success in his first years ahead. He conquered the charts with "Tonight's the Night" from "A Night on the Town", his seventh studio album which was released in 1976. He released an album almost every year since then; "Foot Loose & Fancy Free" (1977), "Blondes Have More Fun" (1978), "Foolish Behaviour" (1980), "Tonight I'm Yours" (1981), "Body Wishes" (1983), "Camouflage" (1984), and an eponymous in 1986. In 1990, his cover version of Tom Waits' song "Downtown Train" went to number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Three years later, he unveiled "Unplugged and Seated" (1993), which featured the hit "Have I Told You Lately."

Recording four volumes of the" Great American Songbook" series (2002 � 2005), it was his "Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III" in 2004 that successfully won Stewart his first Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. In addition to his many music projects, the singer-songwriter also penned his own memoir, "Rod: The Autobiography", which hit the stores in 2012.

Aside from his noteworthy music career, Stewart was also well known for his liaisons with a number of women. He has a total of eight children from different relationships; daughter Sarah Streeter with ex-girlfriend Susannah Boffey, daughter Kimberley Stewart and son Sean Stewart with first wife Alana Hamilton, daughter Ruby Stewart with former fling Kelly Emberg, daughter Renee Cecili Stewart and son Liam McAlister Stewart with second wife Rachel Hunter, and sons Alastair Wallace Stewart and Aiden Patrick Stewart with third wife Penny Lancaster.