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Rod Stewart Prepares to Leave the Road After a Remarkable Six-Decade Career
After more than six decades of raspy vocals, stadium performances and songs that became fixtures of popular music, Sir Rod Stewart is preparing to say goodbye to life on the road. But the legendary British singer insists he is not finished with music. Rod Stewart has spent most of his adult life onstage. Now, at 81, the singer behind “Maggie May,” “Sailing,” “Tonight’s the Night” and “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” has announced that his 2027 The Final Encore tour will be his last full tour, closing one of the longest-running touring careers in rock music. Stewart has emphasized that the decision does not amount to a complete retirement from performing or recording, Us Weekly reported. The announcement comes after a career stretching back to the early 1960s, when Stewart was still a young musician trying to establish himself in Britain’s blues and R&B scene. Before becoming an international solo star, Stewart performed with groups including the Jeff Beck Group and Faces. His unmistakably rough-edged voice soon became his calling card. His official career timeline records his first U.S. tour with the Jeff Beck Group in 1968 and the release of Every Picture Tells a Story in 1971, the album that helped propel “Maggie May” into one of his defining hits. What followed was a career remarkably resistant to changing musical fashions. Stewart moved through rock, folk, soul, pop and eventually standards and swing while maintaining an audience across generations. His catalog eventually grew to include songs such as “You Wear It Well,” “Hot Legs,” “Young Turks,” “Forever Young,” “Rhythm of My Heart” and “Have I Told You Lately.” According to concert promoter and venue materials, Stewart has sold more than 250 million records and singles worldwide. He has accumulated dozens of Top 10 singles, achieved No. 1 albums on both sides of the Atlantic and been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice — as a solo performer and as a member of Faces. He was knighted in 2016 for services to music and charity. Even late in his career, Stewart continued experimenting rather than simply touring his old catalog. In 2024, he released Swing Fever, a collaboration with Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. The album reached No. 1 in Britain. The Final Encore Stewart announced The Final Encore on Sept. 28, describing the 2027 run as his final tour after more than six decades on the road. “The time has come to say farewell to life on the road,” Stewart said in announcing the tour, adding that The Final Encore would “most definitely” be his last, The Guardian reported. The tour is scheduled to begin in Dublin in April 2027 before traveling through Britain and continental Europe. Dates include Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester and London, with the European itinerary extending into the summer. The farewell follows a difficult period for Stewart’s health and touring schedule. In August 2026, Stewart underwent a coronary stent procedure and canceled a series of performances while recovering. His representatives said at the time that the procedure was successful and that he was doing well, according to Rolling Stone Canada. The health issues give the final-tour announcement additional significance, but Stewart has been careful not to describe it as the end of his career. He has instead drawn a line between retirement and leaving the demanding cycle of international touring. “I’m not retiring,” Stewart said while announcing the decision, according to The Independent. That distinction is consistent with Stewart’s previous comments. When retirement speculation emerged in 2023, he declared that he intended to continue singing for as long as he could, ABC News reported. The End of an Era, Not Necessarily the Music For Stewart, the end of touring closes a chapter that began before the Beatles had conquered America and continued through glam rock, disco, MTV, compact discs, streaming and social media. Few performers have remained recognizable across so many different eras of popular music. The hair became part of the image. So did the suits, the swagger and the unmistakable rasp. But underneath the celebrity persona was a singer whose voice could move between raucous rock songs and remarkably vulnerable ballads. That combination helped Stewart survive something that ends many careers: changing generations. Parents who bought his records in the 1970s eventually stood at concerts beside children and grandchildren who discovered the same songs decades later. When The Final Encore reaches its conclusion, Stewart will be leaving behind more than a touring career. He will be closing a tradition that has occupied most of his life — traveling from city to city, walking onto a stage and singing songs that millions of people already know by heart. The road may finally be coming to an end. Rod Stewart, however, says the singer is not.