ROD STEWART - FOREVER YOUNG

Released: July 1988

Charts:  US: #12    UK: #55 

“Forever Young” is a song by Rod Stewart from his 1988 album “Out of Order”. It reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the Canadian charts. Andy Taylor, formerly of Duran Duran, played guitar and co-produced the album with Stewart and Bernard Edwards. The music video, filmed on Potrero Road in California, features Stewart singing to a child, played by Alex Zuckerman, against scenes of rural America.

Bob Dylan released a song titled “Forever Young” in 1974 with a similar theme to Rod Stewart’s 1988 version. Acknowledging the similarities, Stewart’s team proactively approached Dylan, leading to an agreement to give Dylan half of the publishing royalties. While the music differs, the lyrical concept and structure bear strong similarities. Though Dylan’s name wasn’t initially credited, his publishing company, Special Rider Music, was listed. Stewart also pledged to donate his royalties from the song to organizations supporting the homeless in America.

In the “Storyteller” liner notes, Rod Stewart described the creative process behind “Forever Young”. After experimenting with various tempos and arrangements, they settled on a slightly Gaelic approach. Stewart decided to add a lower harmony to the lead vocal late in production, causing stress for his team, particularly his manager Arnold Stiefel, who humorously ended up “resting in a dark room with a lightly boiled egg.”

Rod Stewart recorded multiple versions of “Forever Young”. A mellow rendition appears on his 1996 compilation “If We Fall in Love Tonight”, and a piano-accompanied version is included in the 2009 compilation “The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998”. A live version was performed during his MTV Unplugged session in 1993, later added as a bonus track to the 2009 Collector’s Edition of “Unplugged…and Seated”. Another live version, from his 2013 performance at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, appears on the deluxe edition of his album “Time”.