Happy birthday, Rod! One man, one sound, one voice for generations

On 10 January, Rod Stewart turns 81 – and honestly, it still feels a bit surreal. Because Rod Stewart isn't an artist you can simply pigeonhole by age. He's an attitude to life. A voice. A damn well-fitting tailor-made suit with an open shirt collar that has defied all fashions for decades.
Rod is one of those musicians whose songs you don't just listen to, but reminisce about, celebrating your own personal party, true to the motto ‘We're having a party,’ as Sir Rod himself repeatedly emphasises at his concerts.
As soon as that unmistakable, slightly hoarse timbre rings out, you're right there: in your first summer of love, on an endless car journey, in a smoky pub or in front of the big stage of life, where things aren't going perfectly – but honestly. And that's exactly what Rod Stewart always was and is: honest, direct, sometimes cheeky, with a rousing sense of humour and sometimes sentimental, but never smooth.
His career? A wild ride. From street musician to the wild years with the Faces, from ‘Maggie May’ to ‘Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?’, from ‘Baby Jane’ to ‘The Tears Of Hercules’, from packed stadiums to sold-out arenas to small, smoky clubs. From raging rock hits like ‘Young Turks’ to heart-wrenching ballads like ‘Have I Told You Lately’ – Rod could and could do everything and never wanted to have to choose. A rocker with a football heart, a dandy with a working-class soul, a charmer with self-irony. Someone who knew that a song didn't have to be perfect to be perfect. It just had to be filled with life, given that typical Stewart touch. And Sir Rod was and is second to none in this respect. It's no coincidence that he recorded many cover songs, and it was only through his typical Rod interpretation that these songs became global hits. Want some examples? Take ‘Sailing’ – written by the Sutherland Brothers in 1972, but it wasn't until three years later that Stewart's version made “Sailing” number one in the charts. Or ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’. Originally written by Cat Stevens in 1967, it was Stewart's cover nine years later that made the song the big hit that almost everyone knows today.
And then there's that voice. No other voice sounds like his. It's raspy, warm and comforting. It tells stories of love and loss, of mistakes and second chances. Rod doesn't sing about feelings – he's right in the middle of them. Perhaps that's precisely why his songs connect generations. Children, parents, grandparents – everyone loves Rod Stewart. There's the teenage grandson singing along with his grandmother at a concert, there's the son and father rocking out to the sounds of ‘Tonight I'm Yours’ on the arena floor. Stewart appeals to all generations with his songs and gives them at least two hours of carefree escape from everyday life at his performances. What influencer or TikTok nerd can claim that these days?
Even beyond music, Rod always remained Rod. A passionate football fan, an entertainer without any real airs and graces, a gentleman with a twinkle in his eye. Basically, Rod is one of us, who can get just as excited about his favourite team from Glasgow as he can about a pint in the pub around the corner in the evening. Someone who can laugh at himself and knows full well that coolness has nothing to do with age, but with attitude. Anyone who is still on stage at over 80 as if it were the most natural thing in the world has done a lot of things right.
81 years of Rod Stewart – that's not just countless hits, gold records and sold-out tours. It's moments that stay with you. Choruses you sing along to, even if you don't know the lyrics by heart. Melodies that lift you up when you're having a tough day. And that feeling that rock “n” roll doesn't have to be loud to be profound.
Dear Rod, thank you for the songs that have accompanied us and still do. Thank you for the energy, the style, the humour – and for proving that passion has no expiry date. Happy birthday, Sir Rod. Here's to the next chapters. The world could still use a lot more Stewart.