Welcome to 2026! Enter an exciting new year with Rod Stewart

Another year is coming to an end, the 61st year in Rod Stewart's unique career. In 1964, he was discovered by a certain Long John Baldry at Twickenham railway station, and what followed is simply history. And even today, more than six decades later, we are still talking about Sir Rod, his concerts, his music, and participating in a very significant piece of music history.

We want to use the upcoming turn of the year to take a brief look back.

The year 2025 has been kind to us Rod fans, and it began with a milestone. On 10 January, Sir Rod celebrated his 80th birthday. And at an age when other music greats have long been enjoying their retirement or may no longer be with us, it seems that Sir Rod is really turning up the heat.

He said in an interview that he wanted to play 80 concerts in the year he celebrated his 80th birthday. Well, he didn't quite achieve that goal, but according to the online concert portal setlist.fm, Rod still managed an impressive 74 performances in 20 countries in 2025. Music lovers can only bow respectfully before such an achievement. What worker or employee still does a full-time job at that age?

Sir Rod did it and once again thrilled crowds around the world. Almost every concert on his tour of North and South America and Europe was sold out, with audiences ranging from young to old. And everywhere, there was sheer enthusiasm after the music legend's performances.

Particularly memorable will certainly be the performance at the legendary Glastonbury Festival in England in June and the boundless enthusiasm for Sir Rod during his three-day mini-tour in Buenos Aires in October, where fans gave him a grand welcome and he was also made an honorary citizen of the Argentine capital. His 200th performance at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on 12 March will also be remembered.

He's still got it, that's all there is to say. Yes, of course, due to his age, he's not quite as energetic on stage as he used to be, but the singer still dances from left to right, twirls the microphone stand through the air and still makes the ladies gasp for breath with his wiggling butt and hip swings and unbuttoned shirt. Given the rousing performances, which are also supported by Stewart's great band and allow the master behind the stage to take the occasional refreshment break, it wasn't just the fans who were ecstatic; the media, too, joined in the – rightly – huge praise for someone who once wanted to be a professional footballer but, fortunately for this world, was given a guitar for Christmas instead.

Rod Stewart was and still is a stroke of luck for the music world. Hardly any other singer or band knows how to entertain their audience as excellently as Sir Rod. His concerts are not just music, they are a unique show, shaped by the man at the microphone with his charisma, his presence and, above all, his humour.

Fans around the world will be all the happier that Sir Rod is still not thinking about ending his career in 2026. As of today, the indestructible singer has already announced 37 concerts for 2026, and it cannot be ruled out that there will be more to come. Fans of hits such as ‘Maggie May’, “Sailing” and ‘Baby Jane’ can also look forward to new material. A new solo album (if not two) seems to have been in the works for some time, and an exciting new Faces album has been announced for 2026, which is said to include several new songs by the legendary British rock band. And in an interview with the BBC shortly before Christmas, Sir Rod casually mentioned that he is planning a major tour of the United Kingdom for 2027.

So 2026 can come for the average Rod Stewart fan and is likely to be another very exciting year. Amid all the hype, however, we should not forget that our Roderick David will be turning 81 in a few days. We will never get the Rod of yesteryear back, but the Rod of today can absolutely hold his own with his younger self from 30 years ago.

With this in mind, we wish everyone – especially our magnificent Sir Rod – a happy, healthy and, above all, successful New Year in 2026.