When Rod Stewart had a Top-Ten hit with TomWaits’ Downtown Train in 1989, perhaps the song was more personal to him than one might have guessed! As completely absurd as it seemed, I was convinced for several hours that I saw Rod Stewart a downtown A train this afternoon. “Rod” got on the train at Columbus Circle and got off at 23rd Street. Yes, I know what your thinking: it did seem exceedingly unlikely to me that Mr. Stewart would be a straphanger when visiting New York, but there were several points that made this extra confusing. For one thing, he was definitely English—I couldn’t get close enough to hear what he was saying but I could hear he had an English accent. Second, he was with a beautiful young Asian woman. Even though I know he is married to Penny Lancaster, who is like the fourth version of his original wife Britt Ekland, it made sense that he would be with a hot younger woman. Also, I remembered that the singer was discovered by Long John Baldry singing on the tube platform in the U.K. which suggested that perhaps Stewart might have positive feelings about taking the train. Finally, he looks exactly like Rod Stewart—a veritable doppelganger!
On the other hand, what the hell would Rod Stewart be doing on the A train? Plus, even though he looks like Rod Stewart, he also kind of looked like Ron Wood of the Stones, which made me hesitate. And even though he was in the right age range generally, I thought to myself that Rod Stewart would certainly look a bit more weathered than “Rod Stewart.” Finally, he seemed to be missing the Rod Stewart mole on his left cheek. It was all so confusing and over so fast.
Naturally I grabbed two fast pictures knowing that I would soon put the issue to my fellow Stargayzers. So what says you, dear readers? Rod or “Rod”?
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Michele
December 13, 2012 at 6:44 pmI will pass this question along to my cousin Sheree who is a die hard Rod Stewart fan. Surely, she would know. I’ll get back to you. ; )
David Munk
December 14, 2012 at 12:38 amI look forward to hearing her comments. I’ve pretty much decided it wasn’t him. But then again…
Michele
December 14, 2012 at 3:57 pmDavid, here’s Sheree’s response: “Michele I don’t know for sure but it does look like him… being he was in the city promoting his book and cd maybe it was the fastest way to get around town!! Thanks for sending… my vote is it’s him!”
David Munk
December 14, 2012 at 8:59 pmSo Sheree says he was in NYC two days ago? That’s what I was trying to determine. If he was in NYC I would say it was definitely him and he’s just had another facelift.
dwight garcia
December 16, 2012 at 1:41 amhilarious
David Munk
December 16, 2012 at 8:41 pmThank you sweetie. I do try!
Michele
December 17, 2012 at 8:32 pmWouldn’t it be funny if Rod had the mole removed so he could appear incognito in public, but then puts on a prosthetic mole when he performs? LOL!
David Munk
December 18, 2012 at 4:38 amHa! So I’m not the only one having conspiracy theories about Rod’s mole!
James
December 29, 2012 at 7:00 pmJust saw him today at Columbus Circle, same coat!
David Munk
December 29, 2012 at 7:16 pmyes, but is it Rod Stewart?
sara
February 13, 2014 at 12:26 amlol!! Monday morning I was waiting to get my passport with my son, I was next in line when the man in your photo walked up to me and asked in a sultry voice, ‘is this where I get my passport’ (in his defense it was not well marked and the postal worker was not at her desk) we spoke for a little while we waited, the whole time I was thinking ‘ I think this is Rod Stewart” a crowd started to gather and people had their cell phones out and were taking pictures. He then grabbed me by the waist and said to my son ‘take a picture’ (he had been playing on my iphone) then he took my phone, handed it to me and said ‘take a picture’ as he posed with my son! the postal workers came out from behind the window and they started asking for pictures and an autograph. Then they told him he could go the Hudson street post office to get it expedited and he left. Now tell me, would someone take impersonating that far??? I posted it on facebook and I am getting tons of comments how its not him!! So frustating – to think, what better place to prove your identity then the US Post office!! whoever he was, he made my day – I hope it was Rod, my knees buckled when he put his atrm around me! : )
sara
February 13, 2014 at 12:30 amfile:///home/chronos/user/Downloads/1622744_10203305476702187_622268558_n.jpg
trying to paste the pictures – not sure how to!
sara
February 13, 2014 at 12:37 amegads!! I just saw your post is from 2012!! lol!!
David Munk
February 13, 2014 at 1:02 amHi Sara. You can’t imagine how vexed I was about this whole Rod Stewart impersonator thing. Don’t know if you noticed but I actually saw him twice in two weeks or something. After weeks of scratching my head and talking to friends and a few Rod Stewart superfans, I came to the conclusion that this was in fact NOT Rod Stewart. I know, I know – it’s like why would someone go so out of his way to mislead people, but NY is filled with strange characters. Bottom line is that every time I saw this guy he was alone which felt suspicious to me. It strains credulity to think of someone as over-the-top affluent as Rod Stewart—he real is a one percenter- moving around the city solo and, especially, riding the subway. It just didn’t freel right and is out of character with how most superstars, in my observation, move through their days. Of course their are exceptions, but Rod Stewart is very different from, say, Ethan Hawke or other NYC characters that you see all the time.
Finally, I think my friend Elisa and I established that the real Rod was on tour in a different city on one of the days that I spotted him. I couldn’t see your pic but if you want to email it to me my email address is [email protected].
Thanks for reading and taking the time to share. It made my day.
David