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As a 30-piece orchestra digs into the opening riff of his haunting track “Sweet Dreams,” Dave Stewart, one of the most respected and accomplished artists in modern music, seems to enjoy a rare moment of looking back on his astonishing legacy. But Stewart is already onto to his next creative idea well before the second chorus begins.

Bob Dylan describes Stewart as “a fearless innovator” and it is exactly that approach to his life and his work that has led him to become one of the most sought after writers and music producers crafting numerous tracks for and with artists including Mick Jagger, U2, Gwen Stefani, Sinead O’Connor, Jon Bon Jovi, Bryan Ferry, Tom Petty, Bob Geldof and Celine Dion. It has also given Stewart the freedom to extend his talents well beyond the music studio and become a multi-media entrepreneur, leading his company, Weapons of Mass Entertainment, to the forefront of innovation where he can link creative ideas to a host of projects in film, television, books, theater and new media.

This summer Stewart will embark on a full-scale North American tour as Dave Stewart and His 30-Piece Rock Fabulous Orchestra. The show will include songs from his vast catalog of classic hits performed in one-of-a-kind arrangements. In addition to smash-hits from Eurythmics such as “Sweet Dreams” and “Here Comes the Rain Again,” the songbook includes timeless tracks penned by Stewart including Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” No Doubt’s “Underneath It All,” Mick Jagger’s “Old Habits Die Hard” (which earned Dave and Mick a Golden Globe award) and Celine Dion’s recent chart-topper “Taking Chances.”

“This isn’t so much a look back but a new beginning,” said Stewart. “When your work has been put away for a while and then you take it out and dust it off, you often see something you’ve never seen before and before you know it, you’re on the road with a 7 piece band and a 30-piece orchestra!”

In August, Weapons of Mass Entertainment and Surfdog Records will be releasing an album consisting of newly recorded versions of some of Dave’s most celebrated material .The 21 songs have been with recorded with his touring band and full orchestra. The aptly titled “Dave Stewart Songbook, Vol. 1,” will be accompanied by a large hard-cover, glossy book of the same title. The book includes a chapter dedicated to each song with the story behind the music and stunning photos of his collaborators during the recording sessions, most of which were taken by Stewart himself.

This is a mere glimpse into the eclectic life of Stewart who at the age of eighteen was given a publishing contract at Island Music by legendary impresario Chris Blackwell. A record contract followed up one year later through Sir Elton John’s Rocket Records imprint. Over the past 25 years, Stewart has sold more than 75 million albums worldwide with Eurythmics’ partner Annie Lennox. Driving ten releases to multi-platinum sales levels, the duo was behind such inventive rock as “Here Comes The Rain Again,” “Who’s That Girl,” “Would I Lie To You,” “Missionary Man,” “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves” (with Aretha Franklin) and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).”

Continuously recognized and celebrated for their contribution to the music world, the Eurythmics were inducted into the UK Hall of Fame, along with Mick Jagger and Sting in 2005 by Bob Geldof. Prime Minister Tony Blair also paid tribute to the Eurythmics by noting that, "They're two remarkable people extremely talented and very original." Dave and Annie have received numerous awards including the very prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Brits (the UK equivalent to the Grammy’s). Stewart has won Best Producer four times, as well as numerous Grammy’s, MTV Awards and Best British Songwriter awards.

On his experience of writing “Sweet Dreams” with partner Annie Lennox, Stewart muses, “Some things that seem to happen spontaneously and take a very short piece of time can become the lighting rod that affects the rest of your life.”

In 1999, the Eurythmics embarked on a world tour and donated the proceeds to Amnesty International and Greenpeace. Lennox and Stewart ended the millennium playing live in Greenwich, England and played their way into 2000 with the whole world watching as they sang “Sweet Dreams” at midnight on the Prime Meridian.

“Writing songs with other people is like falling in love over and over again,” says Stewart. ”It’s a fast track into someone’s soul— you can feel their heart beating against yours.”

Since 2000, Stewart has written numerous songs with several other major artists including Bono, Paul McCartney Gwen Stefani, Anastacia and Shakira. He is considered one of the pop world’s greatest guitar players and has shared the stage with everybody from B.B.King to The Edge, from Eric Clapton to Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.

“Dave Stewart is one of those special people who inspire creativity,” says Simon Fuller, founder and CEO of 19 Entertainment and creator of American Idol. “If you are a song writer and you collaborate with Dave, great songs will just flow. If you are an entrepreneur and you spend time with Dave, you will know exactly what your next business idea should be, if you are a philosopher and you get talking to Dave, your mind will suddenly have clarity like never before.” There are no boundaries to Stewart’s creative endeavors. Stewart has written numerous film scores for directors such as Robert Altman, Paul Verhoeven and Ted Demme. He also wrote and produced the title songs for films including “1984,” “Scrooged,” “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” sung by Al Green, “Ruthless People,” sung by Mick Jagger and Daryl Hall, “Around the World in 80 Days,” “Bird on a Wire,” sung by the Neville Brothers and “Charlotte's Web” sung by Sarah McLaughlin. The latter won the Film Critics Society Award for best song. Along with long time friend Mick Jagger, Stewart wrote and produced the score and six songs for Charles Shyer’s “Alfie” starring Jude Law, winning a Golden Globe award for Best Original Song “Old Habits Die Hard”. In the world of publishing Stewart produced “Walk In” (2007) that is a strange Virgin Comics graphic novel about a parallel universe and in 2008 produced the Virgin Comics graphic novel, “Zombie Broadway.” “Zombie Broadway” tells the story of a zombie outbreak in New York City that can only be quelled by the song and dance of the Broadway stage. See www.virgincomics.com Songs are written and plans are already in the works for this to become a musical.

Stewart produced the award winning documentary, “Deep Blues” and has directed numerous music videos. He has also written scripts and his first feature film, “Honest,” starring Peter Facinelli premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000 and was described as a “cult classic” by the UK Times. Stewart was also the Guest of Honor at the Cannes Film Festival Opening Ceremony in 2002 at the “Why Are You Creative” Exhibition.

As a photographer, he has exhibited solo and in-group shows at The Paris Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum NYC and the Saatchi Gallery in London. Stewart’s photography has been at the center of major ad campaigns and magazine covers. Stewart has lectured on creativity for the UK Government and the D&AD, a UK- based educational charity working on behalf of the international design and advertising communities. He is an honorary fellow at the University of Sunderland and University of Westminster where he has been an external examiner in multimedia.

In 1997, Stewart founded “The Hospital” in partnership with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The Hospital, a very successful multi-media creative center in London's Covent Garden can be best described as a private social and professional network for those working in the media and other creative industries. The Hospital will be opening in Shanghai, Berlin and New York City www.thehospitalclub.com. That same year, Stewart was approached by Nelson Mandela to help fight against the AIDS epidemic and he came up with a whole Global Campaign using Mr. Mandela’s prison number 46664 for telephone donations. Featuring performances by Beyonce, Bono, Bob Geldof, Queen, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Gabriel, Anastacia and long time partner Annie Lennox, along with many of Africa’s Legendary artists, the 4 ½ hour concert was broadcast live in South Africa (SABC) and then worldwide on MTV on World AIDS Day to over two billion people.

Stewart was recently hired as a consultant for Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone company, where he was given the unique title of “Change Agent,” charged with ensuring the artists' point of view is represented in the “new world” and creating new content business paradigms for the entertainment industry. "Innovation requires vision, intuition, courage and ability to see what others don't see. Dave has them all," says Tero Ojanpera Nokia’s Executive Vice President, Entertainment & Communities.

Stewart recently headlined Nokia’s Pangea Day, a four-hour program of films, music and visionary speakers that was held simultaneously in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro. In his new capacity as Nokia’s “Change Agent,” Stewart is charged with leading the Artists Advisory Committee which ensures the artist’s point of view is represented in the “new world”.

For all his accomplishments, Stewart’s innovations as a change agent in the field of new media may garner him his greatest recognition yet. A recent Washington Post article hailed Stewart’s innovation in this arena, calling him “a man who vows to drop a ‘neutron bomb’ on the current entertainment distribution model." In the meantime, catch Dave Stewart this summer rocking an amphitheater near you.