Few could have imagined that Rod Stewart--the rooster-haired, onetime lead singer of iconic '60s rockers the Jeff Beck Group--would not only still be at it over 40 years later, but using the term "age appropriate" when discussing his music.
Stewart, whose career has of course skyrocketed since those days--lifetime album and single sales are now estimated at 250 million--has lately been charting an interesting course that's about as far removed from rock 'n' roll as are Cole Porter and Henry Mancini. And those are just two distinguished American songwriters Stewart covers on Fly Me to The Moon...The Great American Songbook: Volume V.
The new album, out Tuesday (Oct. 19), is the latest in a string of similar projects from Stewart since 2002's groundbreaking It Had To Be You: The Great American Songbook, which took classic songs from all eras of the 20th century--make that the early-to-mid 20th century--and essentially brought him a whole new audience. And very likely an older one.
Those that came to Stewart via that album will be similarly thrilled with his latest, which spotlights such classics as "That Old Black Magic," "I Get A Kick Out Of You," "Fly Me To Moon" and "Moon River," among other standards, but tosses in a little more danceability this time around.
Y! Music recently got a chance to drop by the singer's Los Angeles home for a brief chat, and Stewart proved a charming and gracious interview subject--and a very bright one as well. Stewart revealed the motivation behind the making of his new album, where he sees this type of music fitting into his overall career curve, and who he's now seeing as his major audience. He'll soon get a chance to see more of that audience in person: Next month he'll be performing eight shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace--his first-ever Las Vegas run and, one suspects, probably not his last.
Check out the man himself below: