Rod Stewart is ready to leave rock and roll behind once he completes his 2023 tour.
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“I am actually stopping,” said Stewart. “I’m not retiring, but I want to move on to … I had great success with ‘The Great American Songbook,’ all-American standards [released 2002-2005], and I’ve just done a swing album with Jools Holland, which is going to come out next year, so I want to go in that direction. I just want to leave all the rock and roll stuff behind — for a while, maybe.”
In 2002, Stewart released his first of four albums of standards beginning with It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook. He’d continue with three more albums through the 2005 release Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook, Volume IV. He also released his 31st album, The Tears of Hercules, in 2021.
“Everything has to come to an end sooner or later,” added Stewart. “I’m really looking forward to doing something else, especially singing with Jools’ band. It borders on rock and roll anyway. It’s just not ‘Maggie May’ and ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?'”
Stewart first hinted at wanting to explore some new genres, including more classics and swing, in 2022. “I want to move on and just do the classics and the swing stuff, but I don’t want to be singing ‘Hot Legs’ when I’m 80,” said Stewart. “I’m not retiring, but this will be the last time we do these songs in America. I just want to make a clean sweep. I want to go on tour with a big band and just play this stuff that I love. It’s a different entity to rock ‘n’ roll, although that’s where it all came from.”
Stewart, 78, will be joined by Boy George and Culture Club on his upcoming world tour, which kicks off in Ireland on June 20. The trek will wrap up with a six-night residency in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 22.
Photo: Jeremy Chan Photography / Getty Images
