Rod Stewart Songs Ranked
Sir Roderick David Stewart CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. Stewart is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 120 million records worldwide. He has had nine number-one albums in the UK Albums Chart and his tally of 62 UK hit singles includes 31 that reached the top ten, six of which gained the #1 position. Stewart has had 16 top ten singles in the US, with four reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and the early 1970s with The Jeff Beck Group, and then with Faces, though his music career had begun in 1962 when he took up busking with a harmonica.
In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the “Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists”. A Grammy and Brit Award recipient, he was voted at #33 in Q Magazine’s list of the Top 100 Greatest Singers of all time, and #59 on Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Singers of all time. As a solo artist, Stewart was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and was inducted a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Faces. Here are all Rod Stewart’s songs ranked.
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20. This Old Heart of Mine (Atlantic Crossing, 1975)
“Can’t hold a candle to the original Holland-Dozier-Holland production for the Isleys, this is still an imaginative, slowed-down cover version lifted from the “Atlantic Crossing” album. Perhaps just too sleek and slick to retain the desired degree of soul, I still prefer it to the more straight-forward version Rod cut on the track several years later.”
19. Hot Legs (Foot Loose & Fancy Free, 1977)
“I’m not even sure if the loose jammy guitar-work or rhythm section is better and both are absolutely top-tier. And to top it off you have quite a cool bluesy piano popping up now and then. A fun song more than anything, it does veer into sleaze a bit but musically this is everything rock and roll should be.”
18. Infatuation (Camouflage, 1984)
“I wouldn’t go out of my way to defend it too vigorously, but I’m kind of on board with this one. The horn work is what really lifts this into 3.5 territories. The instrumental otherwise sounds like a robot dance party, but still has some nice guitars to connect it (not really though) to his rock past and give it a little humanity. “
17. The Killing of Georgie (A Night on the Town, 1976)
“Great narrative song, reminds me a bit of Hurricane by Bob Dylan. The song tells the story of Georgie, who despite these days of changing ways and so called liberated days, gets cast out from his family for being gay. Then it tells about how he went to New York City where he is accepted and celebrated. One night after leaving the theatre early, he is murdered by n New Jersey Gang.”
See more: Rod Stewart Albums Ranked
16. Tonight I’m Yours (Tonight I’m Yours, 1981)
“The beat is very similar to the more heralded “Young Turks”, but those near-whispered interjections of “don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me” in the choruses are simple but brilliant, and make it an equally good chorus. There’s an interesting contrast between a slightly mechanical, foreboding sound and the hints remaining of the live, warmer sound of disco. This is also apparent in the lyrics somewhat. Most of it sounds like a straight-forward suggestion to a stranger that they sleep together with no attachment, but one of the biggest hooks is the additional sentiment of “don’t hurt me”. All this probably wasn’t planned exactly, but it sounds like it could’ve been, and that’s a good sign.”
15. Gasoline Alley (Gasoline Alley, 1970)
“Rod Stewart’s early solo career had plenty of highlights, and this album has a few of those. The title track is probably the most well-known track here, and for good reason; it’s a killer track. Ultimately though, this album is brought down by having some severely uninteresting tracks”
14. I Don’t Want to Talk About It (Atlantic Crossing, 1975)
“The lyrics are kind of a wash if I’m honest, but it’s musically where this impresses me. Nice acoustic guitar improvisations, stirring strings, nice simple electric solo, and later good interplay between the electric guitar and string section. A good balance between pop and a more folk aesthetic as well. It’s strange this wasn’t released as a single during the actual Atlantic Crossing album cycle but I suppose better late than never.”
13. The First Cut is the Deepest (A Night on the Town, 1976)
“I’ve always liked the Cat Stevens song “The First Cut Is The Deepest”, which gets a lush production and nicely understated vocal, well contrasted with the sparer production on the cover of the Crazy Horse song “I Don’t Want To Talk About It”, which fades away hauntingly to just Stewart’s heartfelt vocal, gently punctuating guitar and weeping strings.”
12. Have I Told You Lately (Vagabond Heart, 1991)
“A thankfully unvarnished version of the sentimental Van Morrison ballad, relying on the conviction vocal which Rod adroitly gives it. A good spot this by Rod, helping the song to become a staple at wedding celebrations the world over. One of those “instant standard” songs which sound like they’ve been around for decades.”
11. Tonight’s the Night (A Night on the Town, 1976)
“Tonight’s The Night” is one of those rare single releases that gets everything right. It tells a sexy story, the music is soothing, and it stays with you. It would become the third most popular song of the decade as it topped The American singles charts for eight weeks during the fall of 1976.”
10. Reason to Believe (Every Picture Tells a Story, 1971)
“Best song off a great album, and yes I am aware that Maggie May is also on Every Picture Tells a Story, as well as the title song. This is just such an incredible tune, and Nobody does heartache quite like Sir Rod. This was written by Tim Hardin, who also wrote If I Were a Carpenter. I also love the way Rod arranges songs.”
9. Some Guys Have All the Luck (Camouflage, 1984)
“The instruments in this song reminds me of “Love My Way” by The Psychedelic Furs. Especially the beginning. The lyrics (try to imagine the studio acapella and in a slower tempo and I bet it sounds like a heartfelt expression of romantic loneliness) and bittersweet nature of the song keep it from being nearly as silly as it could have despite the time-stamped production too.”
8. You’re in My Heart (Foot Loose & Fancy Free, 1977)
“One of Stewart’s biggest hits, his extended love-note to Britt Ekland, a ready-made singalong for stadium audiences. Actually, it boasts a nice tune, sympathetic production (I like the detail in the “laughing violin” which accompanies the word “comedy”), but the lyric is by turns sympathetic and banal.”
7. Baby Jane (Body Wishes, 1983)
“There’s only so many times one can squawk at Rod Stewart for changing his sound. Yeah, he was usually bandwagoning, and often, he was leaping onto a bandwagon I wasn’t interested in following him onto. But he at least tended to do everything well within the confines of the genre he was aping. He might not have brought a lot of fans into the genre, but those who already liked that sort of thing tended to be okay with his attempts.”
See more: The Faces Songs Ranked
6. Every Picture Tells a Story (Every Picture Tells a Story, 1971)
“I love this track despite myself, sexist, racist lyric, and all. After Ron Wood’s acoustic intro, in slam, the knockabout drums which brilliantly evoke the restless nature of the narrative itself as Rod recounts his conquests as he bumps around the world.’
5. Handbags and Gladrags (An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down, 1969)
“Yes, the lyric is somewhat maudlin, but Rod’s vocal spins pure gold out of the melody, while the spare production intelligently individualises the instrumentation, the rain-dropping piano notes, voluminous drums and doleful woodwind backing, all beautifully in concert as the song builds to its climax.”
4. Sailing (Atlantic Crossing, 1975)
“A pretty nice buildup, although I get the feeling a quiet acoustic arrangement the whole way through could’ve been just as good if not better. No matter how dramatic it gets musically it remains one of the best showcases of Rod’s ability to sound heartfelt defying the fact he’s singing something so obviously designed for ‘the feels’. I also feel this was close to the ultimate balance between the earlier more folk Stewart and the later pop guy. A pretty compelling example why not to dismiss any genre, this time soft rock on sight.”
3. Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? (Blondes Have More Fun, 1978)
“My favorite song from Sir Rod Stewart! I absolutely love this amazing man! I’m collecting all his original record albums. It has a great beat you can easily dance to. That thumping bass is so discoed. I’m not a big fan of disco, but this song is great. It is sexy but not over the top or done in a tasteless way.”
2. Young Turks (Tonight I’m Yours, 1981)
“This song is just exhilarating. If you hear it at the right moment, the chorus is one of the most beautiful things ever. Whenever this comes on the radio I can’t help but verbalize my excitement. And the synths, goddamn. Just hearing them in my head makes me smile.”
1. Maggie May (Every Picture Tells a Story, 1971)
“Honestly, as much as I like to make fun of Rod Stewart and his pervy ways, especially on future singles, “Maggie May” is fucking faultless. It is perfect. The melodies, the intertwining and beautiful mandolin/guitar outro, the “Maggie, I wish I had never seen your face,” all of it is so intensely classic and for a reason. It’s a great song and is really the only reason I have any sense of empathy for him, no matter how many times he will sing about taking someone’s virginity or like, hot legs or whatever in the coming years.”
