HE is pop’s latest knight and his musical roots can be traced back to a Southampton band.
Spiky haired singer Rod Stewart, honoured for his services to music and charity, served part of his musical apprenticeship with legendary Southampton blues band The Soul Agents.
His mid sixties gigs on the city’s R&B scene included The Concorde – now based at Eastleigh – when its home was the back bar of the former Bassett pub.
On November 4 the club will be paying tribute to the star who learned his trade there with bands like The Soul Agents and Steampacket.
Forever Rod is a brand new theatrical production celebrating the career of one of rock’s greatest icons from street busker through to international superstar.
The show will include all the massive hits from Rod’s incredible career, classic rock numbers like Maggie May, Baby Jane and Da Ya Think I’m Sexy through to big ballads such as Sailing, You’re In My Heart and Tonight’s The Night.
There will also be favourites from his days with the Faces such as Stay With Me and Twistin The Night Away and timeless Motown tunes from the album Soulbook.
After his days of singing the blues in Hampshire Rod went on to become one of the best-selling music artists of all time, selling more than 200 million records worldwide in a star-studded six decade career.
And it was The Soul Agents who put his career firmly on track when it was beginning to nosedive.
In his best-selling autobiography 71-year-old Rod recalled his six-month spell fronting The Soul Agents.
In late 1964 prospects for Rod, who was then 19, were looking bleak and hopes of becoming a rock superstar seemed way off the radar.
His first single had flopped and his band had broken up. He had spent 10 months with Long John Baldry and the Hoochie Coochie Men.
Long John, who died in 2005, had been Rod’s mentor.
But with Long John on the verge of bankruptcy the band came off the road. The path to the dole queue was opening up for Rod but his management soon found him work.
He was frontman with a band called Ad-Lib but when that did not work out he became the lead singer with The Soul Agents.
In the biography Rod describes how they were a four piece band with a great organ player, Don Shinn, Tony Good, who was the guitarist, Dave Glover on bass, and Roger Pope who played drums and later toured the world with Elton John’s band.
The Soul Agents had a couple of singles on the Pye label. But Rod said that while he was with the band they mostly played R & B covers.
Rod and the band were never able to record together since they were contracted to different record labels.
They travelled from gig to gig in a Commer van and artistic Rod would pass the time by drawing graffiti on the inside of the van.
The Soul Agents quickly graduated from gigs on the south coast, including the Esso Recreation Club, Fawley, Thorngate Hall, Gosport, and Salisbury City Hall, to touring the United Kingdom.
They hit the jackpot when they landed a weekly residency at The Marquee Club in Wardour Street, Soho.
The Southampton based band had to collect Rod from his flat above a fish and chip shop in Brentford before they travelled to The Marquee.
Without rehearsing Rod and The Soul Agents made their first appearance together as support act for Long John Baldry and The Hoochie Coochie Men at The Marquee on December 3, 1964.
Rod did not feel entirely comfortable about being the Soul Agents’ sole frontman. In his days with the Hoochie Coochie Men he shared the singing duties with Long John.
After six months with The Soul Agents he went back to sitting around at home, until another opportunity opened up via Long John.
And the tracks were being laid for Rod to be part of what became another sensational sixties British blues band, Steampacket.
As well as Rod and Long John the line-up included Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger. And the rest is rock ‘n’ roll history.
Sir Rod’s hit single Maggie May which has become his signature tune has strong links with Hampshire.
The hit single was inspired by the singer’s visit to the iconic Beaulieu Jazz Festival which was the forerunner to today’s open air music festivals.
The song, written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, was recorded by the spiky haired rocker in 1971 for his album Every Picture Tells a Story.
Maggie May expressed the emotions of a young man involved in a relationship with an older woman, and was written from Stewart’s own experience.
In a magazine article he recalled: “Maggie May was more or less a true story, about the first woman I had sex with, at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival.”
In October 1971, the song went to number one in the UK and simultaneously topped the charts in the United States. The song was also number one in Australia for four weeks.
The record was Stewart’s first substantial hit as a solo performer and launched his solo career.
Now Rod Stewart is truly rock royalty and his reign over the music scene can be traced back to Southampton and those Soul Agents.
l Forever Rod, The Concorde Club, Eastleigh on November 4. For more details ring 02380613989 or visit www.theconcordeclub.com
A 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 S, once owned by Maggie May star, Sir Rod Stewart, will go under the hammer next week.
The car is one of many with famous owners to feature at the auction run by Coys at The Classic & Sports Car Show in London.
Rod’s lambo is expected to sell for between £800-900,000.
Also featured on the list is a 1972 Maserati Ghibli 4.9SS formerly owned by U2 bassist Adam Clayton, with a price tag of between £240-280,000.
Check here for more details http://www.coys.co.uk/coys-at-alexandra-palace/page/2#auction-lots
SIR Rod Stewart may well be entering his eighth decade but the crooner admits he’s always been something of a workaholic.
The 71-year-old singer insists it’s his love of the job that keeps him going, even if the tan he’s been sporting for the last few decades hints that his life has been one big holiday.
Key to this state of mind is making sure he never gets bored.
The older he’s become, the more he’s filled his life with the things he loves. Aside from his family, Celtic, the odd game of football and his treasured model railway – NEVER call it a train set – the thing he most enjoys is performing.
That’s perhaps why he’s just signed on to continue his hugely successful residency at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace for another two years.
Rod said: “It’s such a gorgeous place to work. The venue is amazing, the sound is incredible and the audience is about 4500, so a really great size. The only downside is the dry desert heat, which is hard on the voice.
“Other than that, I’d play there the rest of my life.”
Vegas, however, will have to wait until spring next year.
First up, he’s touring Europe with the From Gasoline Alley to Another Country Hits 2016 tour. There’s a lot to fit in, from his second solo album in 1970 to his 29th, Another Country, released a year ago.
Rod said: “That should’ve been No1 but only went to No2. Bloody Elvis, beating me to the top from the grave.”
He’s proud of the album and its commercial success.
At a time in his life when many peers have all but given up on recording and releasing new material, he’s still writing songs fans want to hear. He’s under no illusions why people still flock to see him, however.
He said: “From Time and Another Country, we’ll do four songs. The other 20, they’ll be old ones. The fans want to hear Da Ya Think I’m Sexy, Maggie May, Hot Legs, Have I Told You Lately, I Don’t Want To Talk About It, Tonight’s the Night, and all the rest, and I think I would too.
“If Otis Redding was alive, I’d want to see him sing Dock of the Bay, Satisfaction, and those songs that made him a hero. I give the public what they want, and more.
“Saying all that, the new albums have given me a new lease of life. I’ll do one more album, and then that’s it for me songwriting.”
Despite the tour, Rod admits he never goes back to listen to his old records. His daughter Ruby, whose band The Sisterhood will be the opening act on the forthcoming tour, listens to Faces, her dad’s old band, and his early solo albums, eager to know how they achieved certain sounds.
His answer is always the same: “I don’t know, we were too drunk.”
He’s being facetious but there is an element of truth. Faces, formed after the breakup of Small Faces when Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie, were famous for their drinking. They even had a pub and barman on stage, while the antics of Rod and his mucker Ronnie Wood could fill a salacious book of their own.
He will admit that if nothing was happening in the studio, they’d disappear to the pub, providing it was after 4pm.
While Rod, who earned his reputation around the thriving West London blues scene in the late 60s, rose to fame with Faces, he was destined to go it alone.
When the band folded in 1975, he was free to become a global star.
Musically, much of his early work has a lot in common with the loose, barroom rock of Faces.
But it wasn’t until the aptly-named Atlantic Crossing in 1975, and that album’s breakthrough hit Sailing, that Stewart became known for softer material.
He followed that with Night on the Town and became one of the biggest artists in the world, with 1978’s disco-tinged Blondes Have More Fun selling 14million copies.
He has since dabbled with folk rock, blue-eyed soul and, as he did with five volumes of his Great American Songbook albums, record his own versions of the musical standards.
Rod said: “I have great fondness for all those periods of my career but also what I’m doing today.And I’ve just been knighted. I am so proud.
“I didn’t ever admit I secretly wanted a knighthood but I did.
“After it was announced, I got a lovely email from Elton John that said, ‘Darling well done, who would’ve thought a couple of old London tarts like us would become knights?’ So life is still full of a lot of pleasure.
“I know all this will end at some point but while I’ve still got the voice and the hair, I’ll carry on.”
Rod Stewart’s From Gasoline Alley to Another Country Hits 2016 is at Glasgow Hydro on Dec 13 and 16. www.rodstewart.com
Rod Stewart, 71, has been knighted since his last visit to Ireland. He tells Andy Welch about Vegas, the crazy days with the Faces and why he’s still happy to play his greatest hits
ROD STEWART’S just got back from a few days away with his wife.“Portofino, mate,” he says, sounding very relaxed. “A well-deserved break away from the kids.”
Judging by the tan he’s been sporting for the past couple of decades, you might be forgiven for thinking life is one big holiday for Stewart, but break down his calendar and, even as he begins his eighth decade, he’s still something of a workaholic.
“It’s this job that keeps me going,” says the 71-year-old. “I love it.”
And key to keeping this state of mind is making sure he never gets bored. The older he’s become, the more he’s filled his life with the things he loves, he explains. Aside from his family, his beloved Glasgow Celtic, the odd game of football and his treasured model railway — NEVER call it a train set — the thing he most enjoys is performing.
That’s perhaps why he’s just signed on to continue his hugely successful residency at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace for another two years.
“It’s such a gorgeous place to work,” he says of the casino, among the most famous on the Vegas Strip. “The venue is amazing, the sound is incredible and the audience is about 4,500, so a really great size. The only downside is the dry desert heat, which is very hard on the voice.
“Other than that, I’d play there the rest of my life. And it’s not like the old Vegas shows. You hear those recordings of Elvis and Sinatra and you can hear people chatting and eating steak in the background. It’s a brilliant show.”
Vegas, however, will have to wait until the spring. First up, he’s touring Europe with the career-spanning From Gasoline Alley To Another Country Hits 2016 tour, including a gig in Dublin. It’s a bit of a mouthful but there’s a lot to fit in, from his second solo album in 1970 to his 29th, Another Country, released a year ago.
“That should’ve been No 1, but only went to No 2,” he says, the second it’s mentioned. “Bloody Elvis, beating me to the top from the grave.”
He’s hugely proud of the album, and its commercial success. At a time in his life when many peers have all but given up on recording and releasing new material, he’s still writing songs fans want to hear. He’s under no illusions why people still flock to see him, however.
“From (2013 album) Time and Another Country, we’ll do four songs,” he says. “The other 20, they’ll be old ones. The fans want to hear ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’, ‘Maggie May’, ‘Hot Legs’, ‘Have I Told You Lately’, ‘I Don’t Want To Talk About It’, ‘Tonight’s The Night’, and all the rest, and I think I would too.
“If my idol, Otis Redding, was alive, I’d want to see him sing ‘Dock Of The Bay’, ‘Satisfaction’, and those other songs that made him a hero. In other words, I give the public what they want, and a little bit more.
“But, saying all that, I think the new albums have given me a new lease of life. I’ll do one more album, and then that’s it for me songwriting,” he says.
Despite the career-spanning tour, he says he never goes back to listen to his old records, in any of his various guises. His daughter Ruby, whose band The Sisterhood will be the opening act on the forthcoming tour, listens to lots of Faces, her dad’s old band, and his early solo albums, eager to know how they achieved certain sounds.
Stewart’s answer to this is always the same: “I don’t know, because we were too drunk.”
He’s being facetious, of course, but there is certainly an element of truth. Faces, formed after the breakup of Small Faces when Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie, were famous for their drinking.
They even had an actual pub and barman alongside them on stage, while the antics of Stewart and his mucker Ronnie Wood could fill a pretty salacious book of their own.
Stewart will admit that if nothing was happening in the studio, they’d disappear to the pub, providing it was after 4pm.
He also says when he sings certain songs from his early catalogue, he’s often taken back to the day he recorded them.
During ‘Maggie May’, for example, among Stewart’s biggest hits, despite the fact it was originally the B-side to his cover of Tim Hardin’s ‘Reason To Believe’, he thinks of drummer Micky Waller.
“He’d always turn up to sessions in his Mini with nothing but a snare drum. I’d say ‘Bloody hell Micky, where’s your kit?’ and we’d have a row, but he’d assure me he knew, say, Black Sabbath were upstairs, so he could borrow some cymbals from them, or that the Bee Gees were in the next studio, so he could get a tom-tom from them.
“It nearly always worked out, but if you listen to ‘Maggie May’, you’ll hear there’s hardly any cymbals on there because Micky, God bless him, couldn’t find any cymbals to borrow. We had to add them in after, but we didn’t want to overdo them, because we were worried about it sounding like an afterthought.”
His version of The Temptations’ ‘I Know I’m Losing You’, meanwhile, was recorded with fellow Faces’ Ronnie Wood, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan as his backing band, and released as a solo Rod Stewart single.
“My abiding memory of recording that is having a blazing row with Ronnie Lane because he thought it should’ve been a Faces recording, not on my album, but my view was that Faces didn’t do covers.”
While Stewart, who earned his reputation around the thriving West-London blues scene in the late-Sixties, rose to fame with Faces, he was always destined to go it alone.
He successfully intertwined his solo career with being Faces’ frontman, but when the band finally folded in 1975 after four albums, he was free to become a truly global star.
Musically, much of his early work has a lot in common with the loose, barroom rock of Faces, but it wasn’t until the aptly-named Atlantic Crossing in 1975, and that album’s breakthrough hit ‘Sailing’, that Stewart became known for softer material — and subsequently became one of the biggest selling artists in the world, with 1978’s disco-tinged Blondes Have More Fun alone selling more than 14 million copies.
Subsequent shifts have seen him dabble with folk rock, blue-eyed soul and, as he did with five volumes of his Great American Songbook albums, record his own versions of the musical standards.
“I have such great fondness for all those periods of my career, but also what I’m doing today,” he says. “And I’ve just been knighted. That’s truly remarkable. I am so proud.
“I didn’t ever admit that I secretly wanted a knighthood, but I really did,” adds the singer, who received the accolade in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours this summer.
“After it was announced, I got a lovely email from Elton John that said, ‘Darling well done, who would’ve thought a couple of old London tarts like us would become knights?’
“So life is still full of a lot of pleasure,” says Stewart. “I know all this will have to end at some point, but while I’ve still got the voice and the hair, I’ll carry on.”
Rod Stewart has sent a message to Celtic ahead of their Champions League clash with Borussia Monchengladbach tonight.
The British singer should be at Parkhead later for the game and will be hoping to see his team beat the Bundesliga outfit and give their hopes of playing European football next season a big shot in the arm.
Stewart is usually at Celtic Park for big games and was seen in the stands alongside his son for the 3-3 draw with Manchester City last month.
But his tweet last night suggests he might not be there in person so he’s sent on a good luck message
Many women have tried and failed to rein in the rakish and newly knighted Rod Stewart, so how has Penny Lancaster succeeded? Julia Llewellyn Smith has an idea
As dotages go, this one is hard to better. Aged 71, last week the newly knighted Sir Rod Stewart posed outside Buckingham Palace — his military-style jacket, tartan trews and wacky gold-buckled shoes reminding us (and him) of his maverick past.
His gong for “services to music and charity” dangled round his wizened neck, material proof of his status as, if not quite national treasure, then football-loving, wine-quaffing bloke of the realm.
Teetering above the father of eight, famous for “shagging my way around the world”, stood wife No 3, Penny Lancaster, a vision of both respectability in her pillbox hat and raciness in a short dress that revealed her 36in tanned legs.
A blonde former lingerie model, much younger than her husband at 45 and way taller at 6ft 1in to his 5ft 10in, Lancaster — or Lady Stewart as she is now known — fulfils every one of the raspy rocker’s wife requirements.
Yet in the fickle world of rock stars, where most marriages have an expiry date shorter than packets of spirulina in the kitchen, Lancaster has pulled off the virtually unprecedented feat of nine conspicuously happy years of marriage.
The man who still croaks Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? to stadiums full of adoring fans, recently cooed: “I’ve still got plenty of lead in the old pencil, but these days I only write to one person.”
How has Lancaster managed to tame the man who has boasted he has lost count of the number of women he has slept with, where so many doppelgänger predecessors — Alana Stewart, Britt Ekland and Kelly Emberg, to name only a few — failed?
The answer — much as Germaine Greer may disapprove — seems to be by cheerily acquiescing to Stewart’s every whim.
A solicitor’s daughter from Essex, Lancaster was 27 and studying photography at Barking College when she approached Stewart in the Dorchester hotel in London just after he had been — unprecedentedly — dumped by wife No 2, Rachel Hunter, and asked for his autograph.
His exes may have been more glamorous, but Lancaster avoided all their mistakes. She assured her new boyfriend she was no gold-digger, music to the ears of a man worth £160m but so parsimonious he once reportedly made a 10-mile round trip back to a restaurant after being charged for a bottle of water he had not ordered.
During the early years of their relationship, Lancaster lived with her parents while saving to buy her own flat. She supported herself through odd modelling jobs, no small challenge when she was also required to drop everything at a moment’s notice to accompany her boyfriend on tour.
On their first dates, as Stewart recalled in his autobiography, she wore trousers, a jacket and a top that “concealed all trace of cleavage”. “It was an outfit that said, ‘I’m a good girl.’ In fact [she] kept the office closed for ages . . . at least a month.”
The chaste persona was rapidly abandoned. “There’s a lot of occasions when we’ll be going out and he says, ‘Oh, trousers’, and I go, ‘OK darling, I’ll put on a skirt’,” she once said. “He likes to see as much of me as he can.”
Her brown hair became as long and napalmed as her predecessors’, not to mention her husband’s, with the couple visiting the hairdressers together for highlights. She prattled to anyone interested about how she was “gagging” for sex twice a day.
When Stewart still made no effort to divorce Hunter, announced future children were not on the cards and had a brief fling with the model Caprice, Lancaster chirped that if the affair ended tomorrow she would be happy to walk away with nothing but memories.
But such was Lancaster’s apparently sincere enthusiasm for Stewart’s collection of model railways and Pre-Raphaelite paintings, not to mention her willingness to hang out with his pensioner buddies, that after four years the singer told her he loved her. After six, he divorced Hunter and proposed on one knee in Paris.
Today, in blueprint Surrendered-Wife style, Lancaster happily dresses up for elaborate dinners her husband enjoys (something Hunter always hated), which she is “not allowed” to cook, “because I’m not good enough for his restaurant standards”.
She has no objections to being summoned to her husband’s side by a Tannoy, installed in their vast Los Angeles mansion so as not to put a strain on his voice muscles, as if she were a supermarket employee needed on the biscuits aisle.
To avoid potential confrontation, she wears a red bracelet when she has her period, to warn Rod not to ask questions such as “Where are my bifocals?”
Lancaster also made huge efforts to befriend her husband’s six existing children — ranging in age from 52 to 22 — to the point where she was invited to be in the delivery room when his first granddaughter was born.
After her own two sons, now 10 and five, arrived, she ensured Stewart still felt he came first. “I try and split my time between my eldest child — Rod — and my other two boys,” she said, not quite jokingly.
“Most men are still needy . . . and then children do take up a big part of your time, and men feel they are left out a bit,” she continued, adding, “He still needs attention.” She could not have scripted a better response to her husband’s wail: “The life of a playboy is lonely.”
Yet despite her brilliant tactics, Lancaster’s man-taming is still largely the result of serendipity. “I met [Rod] at the right time,” she admits. “Many men do need time to mature, more than women do.”
While his fellow rogue Mick Jagger, at 72, is about to father his eighth child with a 29-year-old ballerina, Stewart is clearly much happier to be with a woman who, when he calls to say he is stuck in traffic, tells him she is running him a bath with a glass of wine at the side — all this communicated by telephone rather than newfangled emojis on Snapchat.
“I’m very, very lucky to have such a gorgeous woman at my side who likes to have lots of sex with me,” he has said.
Though Lancaster could easily be mistaken for gnarled Stewart’s carer, she appears to feel equally blessed. Only a cynic would have posed the Mrs Merton question: “So what attracted you to the millionaire Rod Stewart?”
Christina Hopkinson, author of The Weekend Wives, likens Stewart’s past spouses to those of Henry VIII “but with alimony rather than beheadings.
“But if you’re the lucky one then you get to be Katherine Parr, outliving him and enjoying decades more in his mansions, without ever having to dream up compliments about his latest album again.”
ROD Stewart has told how his pal Cliff Richard has been “persecuted” over false child abuse smears and backed his bid to “sue the b*******”.
Cliff has launched legal action against the BBC and South Yorkshire Police over a live TV raid on his home as part of a probe into false claims the singer was a paedophile.
Rod was speaking when the pair were at a charity do on Friday evening, even apparently offering to help pay the singer’s legal costs.
Rod said: “Pay attention please, Cliff. You’ve been persecuted, mate, and we all know it.
We are one hundred million per cent behind you. You sue those b******* – I’ll give you half.”
Cliff was being honoured at the Pinktober charity bash in London run by his close friend Gloria Hunniford, who has offered unstinting support since the claims surfaced two years ago.
His move to sue emerged this month when papers were served at the High Court against the Beeb and the constable of South Yorkshire Police.
The force led the investigation into allegations against Cliff after a claim the singer molested a boy at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane ground in 1986.
Officers were filmed searching his luxury home in Berkshire in 2014, leading to him being publicly named as the subject of the probe.
When the case was dropped, Cliff said the Beeb’s decision to broadcast the raid left him feeling like “live bait”.
Tomorrow, the singer will lobby politicians in parliament in a bid to stop those accused of sex abuse being named before they are charged.
The pop icon wants a change in the law that would give anonymity to anyone suspected of rape or sexual assault unless they were facing trial.
He hopes it will end the “witch-hunt” against celebrities and high-profile figures who have had their reputations ruined by unfounded accusations without being charged with an offence.
Cliff will be joined in the House of Lords committee room by DJ Paul Gambaccini, who endured “12 months of hell” on bail for sex abuse claims he was never charged for.
At the charity event on Friday, Gloria presented Cliff with a cake to mark his 76th birthday.
She said: “We knew from the beginning there was absolutely nothing to these accusations.”
After auctioning himself off for £20,000, Rod revealed how much he looks up to Cliff.
He said: “He is about five years older than me but I think he’s incredible. He’s a proper rock star.”
Rod and wife Penny attended awards show at the Royal Academy of Arts on Tuesday night alongside Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh
Just hours previously, he joyously received a Knighthood from Prince William for his services to music and charity.
Yet Rod Stewart's royal fun did not end there as he joined his wife Penny Lancaster for a night out at the Royal Academy of Arts on Tuesday while attending the same awards ceremony as Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The 71-year-old rocker shed the tartan trousers he wore earlier in the day at Buckingham Palace as he sported a slick black suit while Penny, 45, got racy in a leopard print mini dress and fur stole.
Happier than ever: Rod Stewart's royal fun did not end there as he joined his wife Penny Lancaster for a night out at the Royal Academy of Arts on Tuesday as they attended the same awards ceremony as Queen Elizabeth II
Tuesday night's festivities saw the monarch present awards to five individuals who have made a national contribution to the visual arts or architecture.
While Rod looked slick in a black suit, Penny slipped into a super sexy leopard print gown paired with a stunning black fur stole, while boosting her height with a pair of staggering heels.
Her blonde tresses were coiffed to perfection as she glowed, no doubt joyous in the wake of her husband's mammoth achievement.
As they headed into the event ahead of Queen Elizabeth, the royal was hot on their heels looking in high spirits while sporting an exquisite jacquard two-piece cream suit.
The newly knighted pop star said his only regret was that his parents were not there to see him collect his honour.
Rod Stewart has said he is on "cloud nine" after receiving his knighthood from the Duke of Cambridge.
Wearing his tartan trews and with wife Penny Lancaster and their two sons at his side, Sir Rod said he wished his parents could have been at Buckingham Palace to see him collect his honour.
The 71-year-old, who was awarded the honour in recognition of his services to music and charity, said of meeting Prince William: "We talked about music and he said: 'It's great that you're still going' and I said: 'I have to - I've got eight children!'.
"He congratulated me on my long career - and I said how happy this made me. I just wish my mum and dad had been here to see it."
Talking about his future tour, the former Faces frontman said fans could expect a "fantastic night" and joked that there were seven women in his new band - "more than there are in the White House".
The artist who has sold more than 100 million records worldwide talked about how he had struggled with writer's block at one stage, advising budding songwriters to keep going regardless
He said: "You've just got to be patient, if there's a song you believe in. Don't write anything second-hand - if you're not satisfied with it, don't sing it. The lyrics do come eventually, you've just got to wait."
Earlier, the singer said: "I've led a wonderful life and have had a tremendous career thanks to the generous support of the great British public.
"This monumental honour has topped it off and I couldn't ask for anything more. I thank Her Majesty and promise to 'wear it well'."
Sir Rod will meet the Queen later at a reception at the Royal Academy of Arts.
Rocker Rod Stewart donned tartan trousers - a nod to his Scottish heritage - and a scarlet-trimmed military-style tunic to be knighted by Prince William at Buckingham Palace.
The raspy-voiced singer of "Maggie May," ''Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" and "You Wear It Well" was honored "for services to music and charity."
The 71-year-old star will be able to call himself Sir Roderick David Stewart.
He was joined by wife Penny Lancaster and sons Alastair and Aiden for Tuesday's investiture ceremony.
When the award was announced by Queen Elizabeth II earlier this year, Stewart said it was "a monumental honor." He added: "I thank her majesty and promise to 'wear it well.'"
PENNY Lancaster enjoyed an evening out with husband Rod Stewart last night and looked her usual stylish self, despite having a painful looking bruise on her ankle.
It’s unknown how the 45-year-old Essex born model sustained the injury, but it certainly looked painful and like she’d perhaps suffered a nasty fall.
However the scar wasn’t going to get in the way of Penny looking dazzling in a lacy little black dress with an eye-catching pink crushed velvet coat.
She teamed the look up with some strappy heels, which cut off just below her injury, and a pearl necklace.
Rocker Rod Stewart has donated money to a fund set up following the tragic death of Rangers supporter Ryan Baird.
The 39-year-old died following a Rangers supporters' bus crash in Ayrshire which left 18 other people in hospital at the weekend.
As soon as Celtic fan Rod heard about the accident he contacted Rangers legend Richard Gough to show his support.
Richard told the Evening Times: "As soon as it happened Rod got in touch with me and said as soon as a fund was set up I was to let him know. Which I did.
"He made a contribution which is fantastic which I have thanked him for. He is a good man."
In Rod's message to Richard he said: "At sad times like this we are one big football loving family. RS(Celtic)."
Since the accident there has been an outpouring of grief from across the Old Firm divide as Rangers and Celtic fans pay tribute to Ryan and those who were involved in the crash.
The coach was taking the Nith Valley Loyal Rangers Supporters' Club to Ibrox Stadium, where Rangers were due to play Partick Thistle in the Scottish Premiership.
Mr Baird, originally from Northern Ireland had been living in Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway.
His cousin, Louise Evanne Baird, said he was "amazing" and would be "sadly missed".
His partner, Sarah Hughes, also paid tribute to him, saying he had loved the club.
Many of Mr Baird's friends and family members have changed their profile pictures to a Nith Valley Loyal scarf in his memory.
The club said in a statement: "The club would like to thank everyone for their good wishes and concern at this sad time."
RangersLinfieldFC tweeted: "We have been informed that the man who sadly passed away was a Rangers and Linfield fan named Ryan Baird from Larne, Northern Ireland, RIP."
In a club statement, Rangers said it was "deeply saddened" by the crash, adding: "Our profound condolences go to the gentleman who has died and our thoughts are with his family.
"We are also thinking of those who have been injured and taken to hospital."
Rangers managing director Stewart Robertson said: "Everyone at the football club and every member of our Rangers family is thinking of all of those caught up in this terrible accident.
"Clearly this is a deeply distressing time and the board extend our deepest sympathies and concerns."
Celtic also passed on their condolences in a club statement.
The club said: "In relation to news of the accident involving Rangers supporters on their way to the match, everyone at Celtic sends our sincere condolences following the death of a supporter.
"We would like of course to also offer our best wishes to all those involved in this accident."
"A significant number of people have been affected and our thoughts are very much with them at what will be a difficult time for all these supporters and their families."
A total of 36 passengers and the driver were on board the bus at the time of the crash.
Police said inquiries are continuing and appealed for information.
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