Rod Stewart in London, 2003 and 2006

Victoria and Mayfair, London · 2026

Rod Stewart has announced The Final Encore, a 2027 tour of Ireland, the UK and Europe that he says will "most definitely" be his last (The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/sep/28/rod-stewart-announces-final-tour-for-2027-most-definitely-my-last). A new album is also on the way next year.

From the Faces to Sir Rod

Born in north London in 1945, Rod Stewart went from the Jeff Beck Group and the Faces to a solo career built on songs such as Maggie May, Sailing and Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? He was knighted in 2016 and is one of the best-selling artists of all time.

Pacha, Victoria, 28 October 2003

These archive frames come from two London evenings. The first is 28 October 2003, 23 years ago this week. That night Tonight's The Night, Ben Elton's musical built around Rod's songs, had its first night at the Victoria Palace Theatre as a charity gala. The after-party moved to Pacha in Victoria, where Rod arrived with Penny Lancaster, then his girlfriend. Emma Thompson and her husband Greg Wise were among the guests, a few weeks before Love Actually reached UK cinemas. It came just days after Concorde made its final commercial flight.

Rod Stewart in a long black coat with Penny Lancaster in a black lace dress at a club entrance rope at night.
Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster arrive at the Tonight's The Night after-party, Pacha, Victoria, 28 October 2003.
Emma Thompson in a cream jacket and jeans laughing beside Greg Wise on a London pavement at night.
Emma Thompson and Greg Wise arrive at the Tonight's The Night after-party, Pacha, 28 October 2003.

Cipriani, Mayfair, 19 October 2006

The second evening is 19 October 2006, outside Cipriani in Davies Street, Mayfair. Rod and Penny, engaged earlier that year, left the restaurant together, Rod in a check jacket and with a salute for the cameras. That same month his rock covers album Still the Same went to number one in the United States. The couple married in Italy the following summer.

Rod Stewart in a check jacket saluting outside a Mayfair restaurant, with Penny Lancaster in tan boots beside him.
Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster leave Cipriani, Davies Street, Mayfair, 19 October 2006.
Rod Stewart in a check jacket and jeans walking along a Mayfair street at night.
Rod Stewart leaves Cipriani, Mayfair, 19 October 2006.

The Final Encore

Now 81, he is preparing to say goodbye to the road. The Final Encore opens in Dublin in April 2027 and takes in Belfast, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and London before ending in Hannover in July (NME).

The pictures

Four frames from a body of work I made in London between 1999 and 2014. Where people who are not public figures appeared in the background, they have been blurred.

My photography years ran from 1999 to 2014, and that archive is now licensed through Backgrid UK.

Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID. Licensing: Backgrid UK Sales, backgrid_uksales@shutterstock.com