Born Alastair Ian Stewart in Glasgow, Scotland on September 5, 1945, the singer/songwriter was raised in Wimborne (Dorset), England. In the mid sixties he was living in a flat with Paul Simon in London while sharing bills with Bert Jansch, Cat Stevens, and Roy Harper.
His 1969 album “Love Chronicles” (featuring guitar by Jimmy Page), Melody Maker named Folk Album of the Year, helping to raise Stewart’s profile.
In 1970 he performed at the very first Glastonbury Festival, assembled by Michael Eavis.
In 1975, his album “Modern Times”, produced by Alan Parsons, climbed into the American Top 40.
In 1976, again working with Alan Parsons, he released the album “Year of the Cat”. Its title track peaked at #eight on Billboard’s Top 40, and became his first hit in the U.K.
In May 2015, Stewart performed the albums Past, Present and Future and Year of the Cat in their entirety at the Royal Albert Hall with a band that included Tim Renwick, Peter White and Stuart Elliott, who had appeared on the original recordings.
In April 2017, Stewart was given a Lifetime Achievement award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.