Rod Stewart kicked off his 2023 summer tour on Saturday, June 24, with a show at Home Park Stadium in Plymouth in southwest England.
The legendary Maggie May crooner, 78, is sharing the stage with Boy George and Culture Club for the first five gigs of his 40-plus show trek that will see him also play Spain and Portugal before heading to North America through the summer months.
More shows will follow starting in November, that’s all part of his plan to make this the ‘last time ’round’ belting out his classic songs on ‘the big rock ‘n’ roll tour.’
But make no mistake, Rod The Mod isn’t retiring from music and performing, as some recent reports might have fans believe, but instead wants to shift to swing music and his Great American Song Book catalog.
By making these two announcements during the promotion of the tour, Stewart also sent a message to some of his eight kids (ranging in age from 59 to 12) who were reportedly trying to get the rocker to slow down and retire so he can ‘focus on his health and his family.’
Not retiring: Rod Stewart, 78, denied all the retirement talk and said he plans on shifting to swing music after embarking on what he’s calling his last big rock tour full of his classic hits; seen June 15 in London
Calls for the London, England, native to sail into retirement after more than 50 years in the spotlight come in the wake of him being diagnosed with cancer two times.
In 2019, the I Don’t Want To Talk About It singer–songwriter revealed he had beaten prostate cancer after a three-year battle full of treatments.
And that came nearly two decades after he beat thyroid cancer in 2000.
His serious health issues don’t end there. The Grammy winner had to undergo knee replacement and ankle fusion surgery following a soccer injury in April 2020.
During a phone interview in promotion of the tour the legendary singer made a point of getting the word out that he’s absolutely ‘not retiring.’
Hitting the message home to People, he repeated ‘no’ six times when asked if he was retiring.
‘I love what I do,’ he said from his home in England. And while he still has the passion for his job as singer and leader of a performing band, he is still making a big career move with his announcement that he will no longer play the big long rock tour after this slate of shows focused on the hits that brought him plenty of wealth over the years.
‘This will be the last time ’round, I think, to do the rock ‘n’ roll stuff because I want to move on to swing music and the Great American Song Book,’ he said, before clarifying the decision.
Health concerns: Some of Stewart’s eight children have reportedly been pushing him to slow down and retire so he can ‘focus on his health and his family’; those calls came in the wake of two cancer battles and a knee replacement surgery
Icons: The Maggie May crooner kicked off his 2023 summer tour in the UK on June 24; Boy George and Culture Club join him for the first five shows in England
The tour: After the July 4 show, Rod The Mod will continue on with his tour without Boy George and Culture Club, which he said will be his last big rock tour
‘But I’m not taking my songs to the cemetery and burying them. I might bring them out on the odd occasion, but I basically would like to put them to rest for a little while. No more big tours,’ he explained. ‘I’ve said farewell to Australia and New Zealand and Mexico, so it’s time to say farewell to the US now.’
Realizing the importance of family, Stewart is bringing all eight of his kids and three grandchildren together after the tour moves from the UK to Spain for shows between July 12–22.
‘I’ve rented a huge house there, so the whole family is coming. So it’s going to be wonderful,’ he shared of his plan to spend quality time with his wife Penny Lancaster, 52, and his children despite his busy schedule on tour.
He explained: ‘Dad has to work, of course. I have to go off and work every other night, but we’ll all be together, which is difficult because they’ve all got their own lives now. But it may be the last time we do it.’
Stewart maintains he does everything he can to keep his voice and his body in tip-top shape that includes voice exercises ahead of tour.
He also keeps up with a rigorous workout regimen year-round that incorporates swimming, underwater SAS training used by the British Special Air Service, running and playing soccer at every chance he gets.
Embarking on a career in rock n’ roll in 1961, Stewart saw the height of his rock stardom in the mid-to-late 1970s and into the ’80s.
In all he has released 31 studio albums since 1969, that includes five volumes in his Great American Songbook.
Legendary: Stewart emerged in the rock scene in the early 1960s, and saw the height of his success in the mid-1970 thru 1980s; he is pictured in London in 1975
Family man: The singer-songwriter plans to have his family, including all eight of his children, stay with him at a huge house when his tour takes him to Spain in July; he is seen in March 2022 with his wife Penny Lancaster, whom he married in 2007
Along the way he has accumulated a slew of hit sing-along songs, most of which he wrote or co-wrote, including Sailing, Your In My Heart, Hot Legs, Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?, Young Turks, Baby Jane, Forever Young, Some Guys Have All The Luck, You Wear It Well, The Killing Of George Part I and II, Infatuation, Passion, Reason To Believe, among many others, as well as the previously mentioned Maggie May and I Don’t Want To Talk About It.
With a need for a new challenge, Stewart wasted little time in his shift to swing music, and has already finished the recording for his upcoming album with pianist Jools Holland, which is scheduled to drop on Valentine’s Day 2024.
‘There’s only so many years I want to keep singing Hot Legs and Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?’ he said, before going into promo mode for the new record.
‘This really is fine music, and I’ve got the voice and the talent to pull it off, as you will hear when you hear the album,’ the It Had to Be You crooner said, before sharing about his touring ideas for his swing years. ‘I can’t imagine doing great big venues with it — we’ll have to do smaller venues, which will be fun with a 19-piece orchestra. Rod is now your jazz singer.’
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