IT’S Monday lunchtime on London’s Old Bond Street and I’ve been invited to Dolce & Gabbana to hang out with the legend that is Sir Rod Stewart.
As the doors swing open, he walks in with two pairs of trousers under his arm and chirps in his trademark Cockney twang, “They’re too long in the leg”, before adding: “And a bottle of perfume for the lady, please.”
With me looking like a ropey Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, Rod escorts me upstairs and a beautifully gift-wrapped, £280 perfume bottle is handed to me en-route.
Turning his attention to a £3,800 silver sequinned jacket, Rod laments: “It’s lovely, but it’s far too heavy for the stage.”
Then, he ushers me to a posh sofa to discuss his last hoorah.
The Final Encore will mark Rod’s retirement from touring after six decades on the road.
Two extra dates have been added to the almost sold-out UK run thanks to the phenomenal demand for tickets.
Set lists are still being finalised, but fans can expect a spectacular trip down memory lane, with hits from Rod’s incredible back catalogue of 11 No1 albums — which include 25 Top Ten hits.
“At 81, it’s quite remarkable,” he says of the ticket sales for his farewell tour.
“I can’t jump around like I used to when I was 32. But I think the audience knows that, vocally, I’m better now than I’ve ever been.
“A few of the big voices have gone. Paul McCartney’s has gone a bit. I treat my voice like the crown jewels. Pavarotti said, ‘I’m a prisoner of my voice’, and you are. You wake up, you say, ‘Oh, I’ve got an itch. I’m f***ed. I’ve got to cancel’. I’m totally paranoid about runny noses now. “Now, when I go out, I wear white gloves like Michael Jackson. He did it to stop him catching colds and flu.”
Rod puts his remarkable good health down to a strict exercise regime which sees him training like an athlete — and getting lots of sleep.
“When you’re in your 20s and 30s, you don’t even warm up,” Rod laughs.
“You drink whatever you want, do the drugs, get on the stage.
“In the old days, we used to get p***d as farts with [band] FACES. Now, when I go on, I’m absolutely sober, then I’ll have a rum and Coke after the third song or so.
“Plus, I have an hour’s workout before I go on — stretching, cycling, stationary bike, massaging, warming up the voice, just getting yourself in the zone.
“It is like being an athlete.”
Of his regime at home, Rod adds: “Three times a week, I cycle for a mile, lots of uphill stuff, and I do a load of swimming.
“Frank Sinatra told me about that. He said, ‘If you just do underwater swimming as much as you can, holding your breath till you want to burst, because then your lungs will get bigger. And they’ll get used to you holding your breath and singing’.”
Rod’s pipes, I can attest, are back on top form after a scary incident this summer in Utah.
At an amphitheatre 4,300ft above sea level, Rod needed oxygen after almost fainting on stage.
Keen to reassure his fans he’s now fine, the Maggie May singer explains: “I had a bout of illness, which was bad luck. I’d just had bronchitis at the same time as I was playing above altitude. I was in a right state.
“The geezer who worked for me didn’t tell me. I said, ‘Are we above sea level?’. He said, ‘Nah, of course we’re not’.
“So, I ran out and did three fast songs. All of a sudden, I was like, I couldn’t breathe. I got through the show, but it was painful.
“If I’m performing above altitude, you go out and do a mid-tempo one and a slow one, then do a fast one. Not three off the bounce, jumping about.”
Rod, with his electric blonde hair and bronzed skin, could pass for a man 20 years younger.
A decade after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, he is still all-clear from the disease.
Grinning, he says of his health tests: “My PSA levels are at 0.02. You’ve got to keep an eye on it.”
But cackling, he adds of the old-style check for prostate problems: “Finger up the bum, no harm done. That’s what most men don’t like. The old finger up the bum. But just get on with it.”
Like any good musician, Rod has his vices and cannot resist a drink . . . even if his wife Penny Lancaster warns him off it.
“I wish I could curb my drinking, but I love wine with an evening meal,”
Rod explains. “I’ve got a great chef and I can’t drink water with a good meal.
“Penny says, ‘You must cut back, darling’. I only have a couple of glasses. But then, sometimes, I’ll get on the apple martinis and I can really knock those back.
“I have these conversations with my kids. I stress to them that I can have a drink, you know, because it’s show business, I drink whenever I want. Not that I drink a lot. But, you know, one of my sons goes out and gets all pd on a Sunday night and he’s got to go to school the next morning.”
Laughing, he adds: “I’ve let the cat out of the bag there, haven’t I? There’s only one going to school.”
The Final Encore will kick off its UK leg in Glasgow on April 29 at the OVO Hydro, after Rod turned down a farewell gig at his beloved Celtic Park in the city.
“It would have been just, like, 90 minutes and I’d say goodbye,” he explains. “I thought, ‘If I can have it for three nights, I can really get into it and indulge myself in it’.”
By next summer, Rod’s touring days will be over — but he says that, inspired by artists such as Adele, he is planning smaller, residency-style shows in future.
“I made the album [Swing Fever in 2024] with Jools Holland, which got to No1 and, when I do my last show, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve talked to Jools.
“I don’t know if he wants to do it with me, because I think he’s afraid of losing his identity. If he doesn’t, I’ll form my own big band. I’d like to do the London Palladium for a few nights, then maybe the Albert Hall.”
Rod’s fans also have a top-secret documentary to look forward to next year, after the star confessed he’s just done a tell-all interview with his old foe, Sir Elton John.
The pair, who are now good pals, traded comedy barbs over the years, with Rod admitting to me he was miles better at football than Elton when they trained together at Watford FC.
“I nearly signed for Brentford,” Rod says proudly. “I only finished playing when I was 68.
“But Elton, I was miles better than him when we trained together. The documentary we’ve done should be out at the beginning of the year. At the end . . . he kissed me on the lips. And we caught it on film.”
Rod added of Elton’s kids Zachary, 15, and Elijah, 13: “His boys are wonderful. I don’t know whether they were putting it on for me, but they came in from school and went, ‘Daddy, Daddy, oh, Mr Stewart, we are so glad to meet you, Mr Stewart’. They are so well spoken.”
Looking back at his six-decade career, Rod knows it won’t be easy to retire from touring.
He says: “Carly Simon found it stressful going on stage. I don’t. I am absolutely raring to go out there. I absolutely love it.”
Stepping back will, however, give Rod more time to focus on Penny and his one other true love — his model train set.
Covering 156 square metres and featuring a 275-metre track that runs through a city landscape, it has kept Rod busy for decades.
“I want to open it to the public and give the money to charity,” he explains.
“I think I’ll be able to get permission. I would like to share it with the world.”
Politics is another keen passion of Rod’s, although he admits he’s more likely to keep his views to himself these days for fear of being misunderstood.
One subject we speak passionately about, however, is the plight of the people of Ukraine — who Rod has publicly supported since Russia invaded in 2022.
“I just hope it’s not too late for Ukraine,” he says.
“They’re going into winter now, and this could be the turning point. It’s scary.
“They’re bombing the fuel and water supplies. Putin is a b*****d.”
Another topic of contention is US president Donald Trump, who Rod has no time for.
“I stand by what I told Kind Charles,” he says.
“I said, ‘Trump’s a pig’. I could tell the King wanted to laugh.”
Rod will, undoubtedly, use his Final Encore shows to urge fans to champion all that’s good in the world — despite still coming to terms with his own global impact.
“I haven’t twisted anybody’s arm or threatened to kill them if they don’t give me money,” he tells me.
“I’ve earned it off my own back.
“I want to thank my public for this. They’ve given me the most glorious, unimaginable lifestyle.
“When I was at school, I never dreamed that when I started singing, it would end up like this.
“Me, performing on stage at 81.
“It’s been the best life and I am so grateful.”