Sir Rod Stewart has revealed being locked up with bottles of wine helped him write a string of smashed hits.
When the music legend first started out as frontman for The Faces, bosses would shut him away in hotel rooms with plenty of booze to get his creative juices flowing.
Rod, 75, said: “They used to have to lock me up with a bottle of wine and take the key and say, ‘Get it finished in the next four or five hours’. That would work.
“I’d hear them all in the corridor, laughing, at the Holiday Inn: ‘Oh yeah look at Stewart. He is there trying to finish the lyrics’.”
But Rod, whose hits include Tonight’s the Night and The First Cut Is The Deepest, worried his lyrics were corny.
He said: “That’s the worst feeling, when you think you’re writing absolute tripe.” But his ability is beyond any doubt. The Grammy and Brit Award winner has sold more than 250million records worldwide since his first hit, Maggie May, in 1971.
And he had to admit: “You’ve really got it or you haven’t. It’s either in your blood or it’s a natural feel for music. I’ve always loved listening to music.”
And he told Johnnie Walker on BBC Arts Radio: “I have gained a lot more confidence now of course. These are the happiest days of my life “
Covid-19 meant Rod had to scrap his US summer tour but he’ll be back in 2021.
