Noted Ed "Old Ginger Bollocks" Sheeran un-enthusiast and lucky guy Rod Stewart is the latest time-honoured musician to sell their song catalogue for a huge chunk of change. According to The Wall Street Journal, the rights to the performer's publishing catalogue and recorded music have been sold to Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group for nearly $100 million USD.
Stewart's iconic '70s hits like "Maggie May," "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" and "You Wear It Well" — as well as some name and likeness rights — are now owned by music industry executive Irving's company, which also holds the catalogues of Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Cher, Linda Ronstadt, the Beach Boys and more. With a new strategic investment from HPS Investment Partners, the company has also apparently secured another billion dollars to put toward purchasing more music rights in this lucrative economy.
Stewart's catalogue sale includes 10 No. 1 albums recorded across six consecutive decades of studio efforts that have sold over a million copies each, also stretching back to his work in the bands Faces and Jeff Beck Group. “Irving and I are a couple of old-timers and I believe we have a mutual respect and admiration for each other,” he told the WSJ. “My life’s work is in safe hands with him.”
