Archive June 1, 2025

What can fans expect from Sir Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood when they first performed together in 1969’s legendary band The Faces? They famously “had me a real good time,” and now they’re reuniting for Glastonbury.

It’s been 55 years since Sir Rod Stewart first teamed up with Ronnie Wood as part of legendary band The Faces and famously ‘had me a real good time.. Now the rather more wrinkly rockers are to reunite on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage later this month, when they take the Legends slot.

The Faces’ faces have changed a lot in the past five decades or so since they played their distinctive fusion of rock ‘n ‘ roll, blues, and psychedelia. They have had hits like Stay With Me (1971), Ooh La La (1973), and Had Me a Real Good Time (1970). Wrecking hotel rooms dominated the band’s headlines as much as their music, making them as well known for their drinking, drug-taking, and debauchery as they were for their hit songs.

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Back then, Rod Stewart was a fresh-faced 24-year-old singer with the five piece band, known as ‘Rod the Mod.’ Now 80, the Da Ya Think I’m Sexy star recently revealed, enthusiastically, of him and Ronnie on That Peter Crouch Podcast: “We’re going to do Glastonbury together.”

Playing together in The Faces from 1969 to 1975, when Rod left and the band split, the music he and Ronnie helped create was said to have influenced The Sex Pistols – although their concerts were either brilliant or shambolic, depending on how much alcohol they’d consumed.

In the biography of Ronnie, 77, Ronnie said, “We were the sponsors of Holiday Inn and Marriott, and anywhere we could get kicked. They were known as the Holiday Out, in our house. No hotel chain would have the Faces because of the damage and madness that occurred when we checked in as Fleetwood Mac. Half of the audience would return to the hotel. Whoever was present would be at the party with us, and everyone would stay.

Touring America, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the UK, the band played more than 500 concerts. DJ John Peel was an early champion of their music and said a 1973 Faces gig at Sunderland Locarno was his all time favourite live concert. While Rod and Ronnie were the band’s most famous faces, there were other notable musicians. These included other bassist Ronnie Lane, who died in 1997 after a battle with multiple sclerosis.

Tetsu Yamuchi took his bass position after he left in 1973. Additionally, drummer Kenney Jones replaced Keith Moon after his passing in the wake of his death in 2014 as keyboardist Ian McLagan, who passed away after a stroke. Along with Paul Rodgers and The Jones Gang, he also co-founded the band The Law and began a five-year tour of the United States. Ronnie joined the Rolling Stones in 1975, Rod’s departure year.

They have undergone numerous changes over the years, most recently for Rod Rod’s 1986 Wembley Stadium concert’s encore. Ronnie Lane and the band performed on stage that year, but by that time, he had multiple sclerosis and was unable to stand. Consequently, Bill Wyman played bass for him. The same lineup (minus Lane) reunited at the 1993 Brit Awards, and they reunited again in 2015 at Rod’s private 70th birthday party.

Rod said in a birthday speech that “Being in the Faces was a mad and brilliant time for all of us,” adding that this is our chance to remember them and say “Had a Real Good Time” despite the fact that we don’t have Ronnie and Mac with us anymore.

Then, for the first time in over 50 years, Jones, Stewart, and Wood made the announcement that they were working on a new album that was scheduled to be released in 2026. They have actually been working together a lot, Rod recently revealing that he was working on a new documentary with Ronnie and Kenney Jones, 76.

Rod, who has twice been inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, has won a Grammy and a Brit Award and holds the World Record for staging the largest free rock concert in history. His New Year’s Eve concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1994 was attended by 3.5 million people – and he looks set for a busy 80th year, as he prepares to embark on a world tour.

At the age of 80, he said, “I enjoy going on tour now more than ever.” I’m in Vegas for seven concerts before traveling the world. I stay in shape thanks to it. You must be physically fit to do it. If I didn’t do it, I’d probably die. I’ve seen so many men who are forced to retire and have nothing to do but wake up in the morning.

Rod and Ronnie are obviously rocking it, no matter how shaky they may be.

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In Coronation Street, Channique Sterling-Brown, who plays lawyer Dee-Dee Bailey, has revealed her struggles with mental illness and her role as a charity ambassador.

Channique Sterling-Brown laughs with locals in a remote African village and learns to shell nuts while watching the livestock.

In a remote rural community in Malawi, where more than 70% of the population resides and eats less than £1.60 per day, she is better known as lawyer Dee-Dee Bailey in Coronation Street.

She is a 5, 000-mile journey away from her Manchester home to support the international development organization Tearfund’s efforts to end period poverty, a subject that this paper is also campaigning to combat with our End Period Poverty campaign.

“I’m very appreciative of my job at Coronation Street, but it’s odd that something has to happen out of nowhere.” You suddenly discover a TV role, and Channique, 28, says it.

“I’m just a girl from Manchester, and I’m not a perfect person,” said the woman who created this profile on Coronation Street. I believe it’s my responsibility to use it to support and inspire others.

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“I feel grateful to be able to do that. These people might be on the other side of the world, but it’s about spreading the love.”

Fans of Dee Dee, the fervent lawyer who joined the Bailey clan, the first black family on the street, may believe these words are the product of her mouth.

Off-screen Channique is a committed Christian like Dee-Dee, and she was recently approached by Tearfund, a Christian organization that collaborates with churches in 50 of the poorest nations, to become an ambassador.

She goes on to say, “I adored the sound of a charity that was focusing on empowering, educating, and reaching out to people.” I adored the fact that it also ran through the church.

Channique says this has always been a topic of her heart, despite having visited transformative water and sanitation projects to witness Teardrop’s efforts to end period poverty.

Periodic poverty is a global issue, and there are some girls who do not get their education in the UK, she says.

The community center of my church is in one of Manchester’s most impoverished areas. My donation to our food bank is frequently made with menstrual hygiene products.

It’s obvious that people need to eat, but it’s nice for women to be aware that these items will always be available at the foodbanks.

Channique visits local teenage girls to find out how the charity has helped them break down myths and taboos about menstruation and provide safe and clean restrooms at schools, preventing them from skipping classes.

30% of Malawian young girls skip school for up to a week each month during their period, which refers to the inability to purchase or have access to menstrual products. However, Tearfund is working to alter that.

According to Channique, “we attended a school close to Salima where there is a changing area for the adolescent girls who have their periods.” They can then go straight back to lessons there because they have access to clean water and self-cleansing activities there.

They are also learning how to sew disposable toiletries. The boys are also learning about menstruation and the menstrual cycle while also participating in that. Because I don’t even see it in the UK, I never would have anticipated that.

Channique has first-hand knowledge of the Tearfund-founded community organizations, which have taught villagers valuable business and farming lessons.

Joyce showed me how to shell groundnuts after meeting her. Although I didn’t do it very well, Channique smiles.

She also showed me her animals, she said. She now received 20 bags of groundnuts after the charity taught her how to take the manure from the animals and use it as organic fertilizer. That is incredible, life-changing multiplication, according to that little bit of knowledge.

Channique credits her faith with changing her life by praising both Christianity and the work done through the church.

Her turning point came in 2020 when she signed up for an Alpha Course, an evangelistic Christian course, to learn more about the faith, after growing up in a church-going family in London and then Yorkshire.

She says, “It changed my life, and I don’t take it lightly.” It clarified what Christianity is, which I now know. As a young adult, I assumed that this would mean there would be strict regulations and no fun. But for me, that hasn’t actually happened. It has actually given me a lot of hope and joy.

If I’m honest with myself, she admits, “Before this, I had lots of personal struggles with mental health, in terms of anxiety, self-esteem, and lots of other things.” Finding my faith has given me greater freedom; it looks like the world is now colored.

Before, I had a terrible sense of hopelessness and heartache when I looked at the world. Now I consider the positive initiatives underway and how widespread is change.

When you hear Channique speak, you can hear her non-nonsense, incredibly sympathetic Corrie character Dee-Dee, who has appeared in a lot of dramatic roles, most recently becoming pregnant by her abusive fiancé Joel Deering.

Dee-Dee decided to keep the baby after first going through a termination, and her brother James and his partner Danny plan to take her there. However, it’s obvious Dee-Dee is unsure whether she made the right choice as she spends more time with her daughter.

Channique responds, “She’s having doubts.” She is gaining a relationship with the child. There is a constant battle between the head and the heart in this challenging situation. We’ll definitely see the effects of James taking Leyla because, logically, she thinks it’s best that he or she takes her, but that’s not how she feels.

It wasn’t my intention to be on television, the actress says, adding that she currently teaches Sunday School at her neighborhood church. I’d have been just as content if I’d been watching Coronation Street, which is always what I’d always thought the timing was. I really had found my faith after watching Covid, and I was also a little older and wiser, which gave me better priorities.

Despite loving her storylines and the child who plays Laila, starting a family is not at the top of Channique’s list of priorities right now.

She says, “Working with animals and kids isn’t as bad as people’s say! ” She’s so adorable and chilled out, which is why I love her. At first, I initially found myself quite irritated. Everyone on set was holding her except for me because Dee-Dee didn’t want to form a bond with her! Why are Mike Le Vell (Kevin Webster) and Alan Halsall (Tyrone Dobbs) holding the baby but I’m not?

Channique wants to settle down and become a mother one day, having just purchased her first home in Manchester, which she shares with her best friend.

She enthuses, “I’m still young, so it’s not on the cards right now, but I’d love to have that in my future,” she says. But I’m truly blessed. I’m not short on cuddles because I have a lot of amazing nieces and nephews.

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One-half of the internet sensation LadBaby, Roxanne Hoyle, discusses her marriage to Mark, parenting, the dark side of fame, and an unusual celebrity encounter involving Elton John.

She’s the matriarch of Britain’s most famous online family, amassing over a million followers, and a whopping five Christmas number ones. She’s a comedy duo with her husband Mark, but Roxanne Hoyle – better known as LadBaby Mum – has faced her fair share of public scrutiny, from trolling to recent headlines about Mark’s alleged fidelity (Roxanne insists that a man in a viral TikTok clip who seems to grope a woman on a night out was not her husband).

Here, Roxanne opens up exclusively to OK! about parenting sons Phoenix, nine, and Kobe, seven, and her relationship with Mark – from those early days when they survived on ‘£20 a week’ to being some of the most successful social media stars in history.

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Congratulations to Roxanne for ten years of marriage!

I appreciate it! Although we’ve been married for ten years, we’ve been together longer! We are obsessed with division and conquer. People frequently ask how we manage it because we support one another, hold date nights, spend time with the kids, and co-work together. But let’s face it, we’re the best mates. We’ve overcome a lot and emerged stronger. Never did I anticipate getting married, let alone to a man I adore so dearly and who has two lovely sons. I’m very appreciative.

Before all this success, how did things go for you two?

We eventually met over cocktails in London, and we fell in love. It was cheesy but true. Mark and I both worked at home when we first became pregnant. We had a ton of money to live on, which was incredibly rewarding. We’ll never forget where we came from because of this. We do what we do right now, donate money, and help food banks in the process.

What exactly works for you and Mark?

We’re like two very large kids playing together. We never want to be happy or grow up. We simply ask, “Why not? ‘ after what we’ve been through. Grab it if you have the chance.

Behind closed doors, how do you keep your relationship safe?

We always talk, every day. We’re close with our boys, too, they can come to us with anything. I think we’ve stayed the same people we were when we met 15 years ago. The world ’s changed around us, but we haven’t.

What aspect of parenting do you find the most difficult? You’re very open about it.

I would just be so exhausted from the period when the boys were teething or not sleeping. You can feel as though you’ve lost yourself. But I’d constantly remember that this is just a bad day.

Would you be expecting more children?

My two are truly wonderful. Have a girl, people always say. but I’m happy and have sisters. I’m blessed.

You’ve stated that you’re never giving up. Was writing Your LadBaby Journey emotional when you first started writing?

Oh, yes. Because Mark and I both have dyslexia, we decided to write it together. The deepest, darkest moments, those that happened in that room, those that had a kettle and bed, and then the joy of planning for our wedding, having the children, playing Christmas songs, helping the food banks, and so on. It was wonderful, in retrospect, because we endured that. Wow. Before 40, everything! It is utterly insane.

What were the darkest experiences you’ve had?

Being trolled online – even when we were doing something nice, like a charity song with Ed Sheeran and Elton John. There was no reason for it, but people can be cruel. Then just the exhaustion of parenting, those early days. There were times I felt like, ‘I can’t do this’. But then you meet a nurse or someone who says, ‘Thank you, your videos helped’, and that just lifts you.

How do you respond to negative online comments about your relationship and appearance?

I ignore them. If anything, they light a fire in me to do more. I don’t have time to waste on negativity. I can’t listen. I’m just focused on the children and positivity and creating greatness that can go on to do even better things. That’s what I do, that’s who I am.

Has anything changed since you started looking amazing?

Everything changed when I turned 40 last year! I now have more time for myself because the kids are already in school. I desired to feel more energetic and stronger. Despite some changes, I’m still me. I’m accepting my age, but I also needed more energy to keep up with my boys. I want to watch them get older, be there for them, and outsmart them!

What do people think about you differently?

that I’ve altered. But I’m still the same person. I don’t have a different appearance merely because I look different. Rox is still my name.

You’ve had five Christmas number ones – more than The Beatles! What’s been a surreal celeb moment?

Elton John singing back the lyrics I wrote on my sofa while drinking tea – that was cool! I even bought him silly Christmas glasses from Poundland for the video, and he wore them!

Any music legends you’d like to work with next?

Mariah Carey would be hilarious. And Adele, singing about sausage rolls! Can you imagine?

Would you host a reality television program?

I love a challenge. People are always asking when I’ll go on Strictly because I’m always dancing – I’d love to beat Mark at dancing. I’d give it a go, as long as it’s something where I could come out with a new skill.

You recently went to Downing Street to promote the Formula for Change campaign, which aims to provide affordable baby formula for families. What made you care about that?

Being a mother is a difficult job, but people should be able to afford to care for a baby. We’ve always made an effort to improve our platform, but the petition that over 100, 000 people signed did not help. Our supporters made a significant difference. Just a thought that it will continue to alter the world.