Sir Rod Stewart’s last big Scottish gigs are going to be filled with nostalgia, emotion and a sense of history.
For six decades, he has been one of our greatest singers.
But Rod, 78, revealed to the Record last year he is looking for new challenges and to spend more time with his children and grandchildren.
His two Edinburgh Castle gigs in July will be the last time he does the big rock’n’roll spectacle shows.
And while he insisted he’s not retiring, they will be “an end of an era”.
Rod said: “I don’t know how I’m going to feel on the night but I’m sure the Edinburgh crowd will make me feel very much at home.
“It may get teary. I’m going to put in a few songs I haven’t done for a long time, like Wild Mountain Thyme.
“It feels like an end of an era. My father came from Leith so I’m going to dedicate the evening to him. I just hope it doesn’t rain like it did last time I was there.”
While the heavens opened in 2010 when he last played Edinburgh Castle, Rod is hoping there will be sunshine not just on Leith but on the whole city for the two nights he plays.
Family has become an important part of Rod’s daily life. A dad of eight, he became a grandad when daughter Kimberly had Delilah in 2011. And now both his son Liam and daughter Ruby are expecting children this year.
But the singer has had to bury both his brothers recently. Bob died a day before his 88th birthday last year, two months after the death of their oldest brother Don, who passed aged 94.
No wonder he has feelings of nostalgia about the two gigs and wants to show his wife Penny, 52, and their two sons the history of his family and the capital.
Rod, who had four siblings, said: “I want to show Penny where my dad used to live in Leith.
“My good friend Gordon Strachan found it so I’d like the family to see that. I’ve got a picture on my desk at home of me and my two brothers sitting outside and I’ve now lost them both.
“I’d like my sister to come up and as many of my children who live around the world as we can. I’ll try and gather the clan. I want the Edinburgh Castle shows to be a family affair.”
The youngest of his eight children, Alastair, 17, and Aiden, 12, already have a connection to Edinburgh. They were baptised at South Leith Parish Church, support the Scotland football team and are both keen Celtic fans like their dad. Rod said: “I want to take the kids to Holyrood and into the castle. Give them a little history tour.
“Although I was born in London and have never claimed to be Scottish, Edinburgh and Glasgow do feel like home from home. Edinburgh, because it was where my father was born, and Glasgow because of Celtic.”
It was only a twist of fate which meant Rod wasn’t born in Scotland. His dad, a Scottish master builder, and English mum Elsie had lived north of the Border and had four children before moving to London’s Highgate. Rod was born there – eight years younger than his nearest sibling.
But the Scots in the family kept their love of Scottish football alive. He was 12 when he went to see his first England-Scotland game in 1959 and has supported the national team ever since, reaching No4 with his Ole Ola for the 1978 World Cup campaign.
And while his club support took longer, his love of Celtic has burned bright for half a century.
His dad supported Hibs and Bob was a huge Rangers fan but Rod was swung to Celtic by meeting manager Jock Stein and other Hoops players in the 70s, becoming a fan when he was 28.
His youngest sons have been Celtic fans since birth and accompany Rod to games.
Earlier this month, while touring New Zealand, Rod got a tattoo with the words Glasgow Celtic surrounding an older tattoo of a lion rampant. So did Alastair, it seems. Rod, back at home in England, said of his new tattoo: “It’s a beauty isn’t it? And my boy had a big Celtic cross on his back. So we all went mad.”
In England, Aiden plays for a youth team Rod sponsors with Hoops strips.
It’s fair to say Rod is Celtic daft.
He said: “I think I’ve sold a few shirts for them. I’m doing the Celtic FC Foundation Ball in New York next Wednesday.
“I went last year and said if we win the league, I’m going to bring the whole band here at my cost and put on an hour’s show. And, of course, they won the league.
“I’m really looking forward to it.”
You can never talk to Rod without some Celtic chat. When his Down Under tour hit Melbourne, he put a picture of local Ange Postecoglou on a screen and sang You’re In My Heart. He said: “They adore him there. Every time they beat the Rangers, I send him a crate of Australian wine.
“This month I was so happy with the result, I sent him two crates. If Celtic beat them in the Scottish Cup semi-final and the last league game, I will flood his house with red wine. He’s just perfect and I hope he stays for a few more years.”
The same could be said for Rod, who is touring the world for the rest of the year and plans a few more big gigs in Europe – where he hasn’t been in a while – in 2024.
“Then that will be it,” said Rod, who can’t wait to release a swing album he’s done with Jools Holland. “Me and Jools can move forward.”
Rod plays Edinburgh Castle on July 6&7. Tickets and info: rodstewart.com/
Legend is desperate to help out with MRI Scans
Rod admits he’s “desperate” to help pay for MRI scans in Scotland.
In February, he made a donation to the Princess Alexandra Hospital Harlow, Essex, with scans carried out by at private healthcare firm in a mobile scanning unit.
He helped reduce the hospital waiting list by about 10 per cent – or 20 patients – and would love to do the same in Scotland.
Appealing through the Record, he said: “I’ve started a campaign to get MRIs for people who can’t
afford them or are desperate. I’m desperate to get one going in Glasgow, or anywhere in Scotland. I’d love for any hospital to get in touch and I’ll pay.
“I don’t have to be there. I just feel it’s the right thing to do.”
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