Do we like Rod Stewart?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Good human-rights stands on Saudi Arabia and Ukraine, set against a 2021 guilty plea and a contested political endorsement.
Rod Stewart is the Highgate kid who taught himself guitar at 12, got spotted singing outside a London railway station by Long John Baldry in 1964, and bounced through Steampacket and the Jeff Beck Group before joining the Faces in 1969. 'Maggie May' made him a global star in 1971, and he's sold something like 120 million records since. He was knighted in 2016 for services to music and charity.
The big blemish is a New Year's Eve 2019 run-in at a Palm Beach hotel. A security guard alleged in court papers that Stewart punched him in the ribs, and Stewart and a co-defendant pleaded guilty in 2021 to misdemeanour simple battery. No fine, jail or probation followed, and formal adjudication was withheld. His lawyer said no one was injured and that he pleaded to spare the court the burden of a trial.
On the harm check he comes out well. In 2023 he said he was grateful to have the choice of whether to play Saudi Arabia, noting that women, LGBTQ+ people and journalists don't, and he had earlier knocked back a Qatar World Cup gig. In 2025 he posted support for Ukraine after the Trump-Zelensky blow-up, writing that 'we must keep supporting the Ukrainian'. He also said Trump 'became another guy', and that he can't be friends while the US keeps selling arms to Israel.
The contested bit is Brexit-era politics. In June 2025 he said 'we've got to give Farage a chance', and that Keir Starmer is trying to reverse Brexit. Plenty of readers will find backing the Reform UK leader a worry, so that's the asterisk. Nothing in what we read shows Stewart saying anything hostile about LGBTQ+ people, women or migrants.
The recent stoush is mild by rock-star standards. He cancelled a Chula Vista show, then posted himself heading to Boston for Scotland's game against Haiti with the caption 'No Scotland no party'. Critics called it insensitive and tone deaf, while defenders said sitting in a stadium and fronting a full gig are different jobs. His team said the cancellation was on doctors' advice and he apologised to fans.
The good stuff is steady rather than splashy. In January 2025 he and a partner became ambassadors for The King's Foundation as it began its 35th anniversary year, saying they looked forward to 'lending our support to this worthwhile cause'. The Saudi and Qatar knockbacks show he'll put principle ahead of a payday. That's about all the record gave us on charity, so it isn't a long list.