Sir Rod’s pledge to Mission punters: ‘You get your money’s worth’

Rod Stewart on stage at his first Mission Concert, in 2005. Photo / NZME

Napier-bound Sir Rod Stewart reckons his career boils down to 24 hits.

And the celebrated oeuvre is precisely what he intends to draw from when he descends on the Mission Concert in April: a set ram-packed full of the songs that made him a global chart-topper.

“All I do is give the people what they want: it’s simple, it’s not rocket science.

“They don’t want to hear many of my new songs, they want to hear everything they know from Maggie May onwards.”

The gravelly superstar said he has “about 24 songs” that have resonated globally. “And we play for near on two hours, so you get your money’s worth.’’

Covid put paid to Stewart’s attempts to get back to the Mission in recent years, however, the rock legend was determined to get back to New Zealand to perform in both Dunedin and Napier.

’’It is definitely on this time and I am so looking forward to it,’’ Sir Rod told the Otago Daily Times. ’’It is a huge relief to have got it back on track and a huge thank you to everyone who has waited so patiently for the news that the show is on again ... there are always good audiences in New Zealand and I always enjoy myself there.’’

At 77, it would be understandable if he would prefer to devote time to other passions, such as model trains or his beloved Celtic football club – he was proudly wearing both a replica team strip and team jacket during the interview. However, music remained his lifeblood, he said.

’’The most pleasure I get out of life is getting up and singing, no matter where it is, I thoroughly enjoy it: it’s the best job in the world.’’

The New Zealand tour bill reunites Sir Rod with Cyndi Lauper, the American 80s star with whom he has often toured in recent years. Local support is provided by Jon Stevens, a New Zealand No. 1 artist in the 80s before finding further fame in Australia fronting first Noiseworks and then Inxs.

Stewart’s musical career began in the early 1960s in the emerging British R&B scene that also fostered the likes of the Rolling Stones.

After working with the likes of Long John Baldry and Jeff Beck, he hit the big time at the end of that decade both as a solo artist and as lead singer of The Faces.

That group breaking up in the mid-70s did nothing to stall Stewart’s momentum, as he racked up record sales of more than 250 million with hits such as Sailing, Da Ya Think I’m Sexy, Tonight’s The Night, Downtown Train and Rhythm Of My Heart. A Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Sir Rod was knighted in 2016.

Sir Rod will return to Napier for his third and last visit to New Zealand on Saturday, April 8, alongside special guest Cyndi Lauper.

* Tickets go on sale on Friday, November 25, at 11am for the Mission show. General admission tickets are $162.