Rod Stewart, 73, is in need of a “good old fashioned clear out” and that means auctioning off some of his furniture and decor, many of which are said to be “very rock and roll.”
“Stewart reportedly put Wood House, which sits on 24.8 acres just outside Epping in Essex, on the market last year for £7.5m, having moved down to the nearby grade II-listed Durrington House, which he bought in 2013 but spent years renovating,” reported The Guardian.
Sworders’ Fine Art Auctioneers of Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex said that the more than 60 lots that will be auctioned in September 2018 include a teak lounge armchair with leopard print upholstery, a painted figure of a banjo player, a pair of gilt bronze-mounted side tables, a pair of late 19th century pier mirrors, and a set of four gilt bronze two-branch wall lights.
The items could raise up to $50,000.
John Black, one of the directors of Sworders, said, “It’s really good decorative house furniture, nice tables and wall lights.”
Stewart has accumulated the furniture over many years. Black said: “We all have a good sort-out once in a while and that is the case with Sir Rod Stewart in this instance. He has accumulated many things over his lifetime and has decided now is the time to have a bit of a clear-out.”
Stewart was knighted at Buckingham Palace in October 2016. He is in the top 20 most successful musical artists of all time, according to Billboard.
He was born January 10, 1945, in North London, the youngest of five children. His focus when young was on soccer, but his father also bought him a guitar when he was 14. He was drawn to the music of Al Jolson, Little Richard, and Bill Haley & His Comets.
Stewart dropped out of school at 15. He was interested in becoming a professional footballer (soccer). Later he said in an interview, “Well, a musician’s life is a lot easier and I can also get drunk and make music, and I can’t do that and play football… They’re the only things I can do actually: play football and sing.”
After performing as “Rod the Mod,” he got his break as the lead singer of the Jeff Beck Group, from 1968 to 1969. He released his first solo album, The Rod Stewart Album, in 1969, and joined the Small Faces (later the Faces) in 1969. During this time, the New York Times took note in a critical review of the “hoarse and insistent shouting of Rod Stewart.”
Rod Stewart’s blues-influenced singing style has been widely praised as one of the greatest in rock.
Abandoned Aerosmith tour van
In the 1970s, his album Every Picture Tells a Story made him famous after “Maggie May” reached the charts. His other hits of the time include “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” “Reason to Believe,” “Every Picture Tells a Story,” and “You Wear It Well.”
In 1975, Stewart began a romance with Britt Ekland, a Swedish actress who was a Bond Girl. He also decided to move to the United States because of a dispute over taxes with the British government. The next phase of his career produced “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)” and “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” Both topped the charts but both were also ridiculed.
One rock website said of “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” that “Stewart’s third No. 1 single was routinely blasted by rock purists back in the day for being a disco sellout and cashing in on his image.” His decadent image was particularly scorned by punk rockers emerging on the scene.
Stewart was far from finished, however. He put out many hit records over the years and launched many successful comebacks, with 15 Grammy nominations and 1 win.
In one interview, when asked about his fashion regrets, Stewart said, “When people say, ‘Oh my God, what were you thinking of when you were wearing that?’ I go, ‘What were you wearing 40 years ago?’ But there’s one turnout that was really strange. … [I wore] yellow satin trousers, a blue tank top and a red fur boa tied around my waist, and little white shoes. That’s the only regret I’ve got. Otherwise I stand by all my collection of clothes.”
Stewart married three times. In an interview, he said, “Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and just give her a house.”
His 30th album, Blood Red Roses, will be released later this year.
Nancy Bilyeau, a former staff editor at Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, and InStyle, has written a trilogy of historical thrillers for Touchstone Books. For more information, go to www.nancybilyeau.com.