(Credits: Far Out / W. Punt / Dutch National Archives)
Sat 10 January 2026 10:05, UK
Everyone normally has that one moment when their innocence is lost, and nothing is the same again. Whether it was finding out the truth about Santa Claus or seeing one of their parents cry, there’s a disorienting feeling that comes with anyone who has ever felt their world shaken by their favourite things. In the case of many rock fans, that loss of innocence happened the minute Rod Stewart released ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’, but that didn’t mean that it was totally his.
Granted, can you really blame Stewart for wanting to go down this route? I mean, everyone and their mother were cashing in on the disco trend going on throughout the 1970s, and Stewart already had the vocal chops to pull off a lot of different styles, including everything from folksy Americana music to bluesy guttural howls.
If you notice anything about those two genres, though, it’s that neither of them goes with the sounds of sweeping strings and scratchy guitars on ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’. While there are the makings of a good song here, it would be better if anyone not named Rod Stewart were singing it, especially towards the end of the chorus with the tacky string lines.
When you listen back to the song, Stewart admitted that it had been stolen wholesale from ‘Taj Mahal’ by Jorge Ben Jor. While this simple acoustic-based ditty should sound like the farthest thing from Stewart’s disco-kissed ballad, it starts to make more sense when you look at both of the melodies for the chorus.
When taken on their own, Stewart used the exact same notes as Jor did on his song, which led to him settling out of court for a massive settlement. Compared to most other rock stars, though, Stewart actually seemed like he didn’t try to hide the similarities.
Rod Stewart in the 1980s. (Credits: Far Out / Warner Bros. Records)
In an interview after the fact, Stewart claimed that he had most likely heard the melody and ended up indirectly plagiarising it, saying, “The melody had lodged itself in my memory and then resurfaced when I was trying to find a line that fit the chords. Unconscious plagiarism, plain and simple. I handed over the royalties.”
While it’s not easy for some people to see how close the two of them are, it’s not that far off when looking at where Stewart was coming from. He was looking to get acquainted with disco, and Jor’s song was the kind of music that was meant to make people dance. However, Jor’s is a lot more endearing when it comes to career embarrassment.
The Rolling Stones also inspired the song
It transpires that Stewart’s 1978 disco-rock hit from Blondes Have More Fun was inspired by The Rolling Stones’ ‘Miss You’, taken from their own disco-flirting album of the same year, Some Girls. Confirmed by the drummer who played on ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?’, former Vanilla Fudge member Carmine Appice. During an interview, the drummer also revealed that the song didn’t turn out as similar to The Rolling Stones as he first expected.
Confirmed by the drummer who played on ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?’, former Vanilla Fudge member Carmine Appice. During an interview, the drummer also revealed that the song didn’t turn out as similar to The Rolling Stones as he first expected.
Providing more detail about how ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?’ emerged, Appice continued: “With the band, he would always tell us, ‘I want a song like this’ or ‘I want a song like that,’ so I went home and I came up with a bunch of chords and a melody. I presented it to him via a friend of mine, Duane Hitchings, who is a songwriter who had a little studio. We went in his studio with his drum machines and his keyboards, and he made my chords sound better.”
It’s hard to really call ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’ a bad track from a raw sonic perspective, but a lot more goes into a song than just making a melody that people like. For someone of Stewart’s calibre, it’s also about how it stacks up next to the rest of his discography, and for this kind of tune, he may as well have handed over his rock credentials.
Despite becoming his biggest hit, Stewart would be known as a punchline for a while, along with every other rockstar who tried their hand at disco music like Kiss. Those golden pipes were still intact, but thanks to a melody that wasn’t even his, Stewart would need some time before being seen onstage with someone like Jeff Beck again.
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