Sir Rod Stewart, a legend of music and set to play at the Glastonbury Festival’s Pyramid Stage this weekend for the Legends set, revealed shocking news about his retirement from music.
Glastonbury 2025 has officially kicked off and music lovers around the world are in a frenzy to catch their favourite artists. Considered to be the holy grail of music festivals in the UK, this year’s Glasto is choc-a-bloc with music acts and massive headliners.
One of the most eagerly anticipated headliners during this year’s festival is none other than rock legend Sir Rod Stewart. All set to dazzle the crowd on Sunday, June 29, the rock icon will be closing the five-day musical bonanza, much to the excitement of fans.
The 80-year-old rockstar, who last performed on the Pyramid Stage 23 years ago, has been chosen as this year’s Legend’s slot headliner for Worthy Farm in Somerset’s renowned grounds.
Stewart is making history as the first artist to have both headlined Glastonbury and received the legends billing, having previously shared top billing at the festival in 2002 with Coldplay and Stereophonics. Sir Rod is stepping into the shoes of music greats like Elton John, Dolly Parton, Barry Gibb, Shania Twain, and Kylie Minogue who have previously shouldered the Legends mantle.
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However, his emergence from the festival’s top spot has also produced some notable headline-grabbing moments.
Back in 2023, the singer had made a shocking statement about retiring which catapulted fans of the icon into despair. During an interview alongside Boy George whilst promoting their then-upcoming tour together, Stewart had told the BBC: “I’m not retiring. But I want to move on. I had great success with The Great American Songbook, all-American standards, and I’ve just done a swing album with Jools Holland, which is going to come out next year, so I want to go in that direction.”
He continued, “I just want to leave the rock ‘n ‘roll stuff behind… maybe for a while.”
However, soon after the interview made headlines, the legend took to social media platform X (previously Twitter ) and clarified his statements, saying: “I shall never retire! I was put on this earth to be a singer and will keep doing so for as long as the good lord lets me.”
He continued, “In a series of tweets, I’ve mentioned that my newest passion is big band/swing music, and I’m very eager to share it with you when we wrap up this greatest hits tour.”
“Over the past six decades, I have written and sung songs that I have never turned my back on. They resemble my kids. I made them out of love. I’ll always return to them, just like I did after the 26-million album-selling Great American Songbook series, I shall say.
The rocker concluded, “I look forward to seeing you on the road with all the hits, and I can’t wait to introduce you to my new swing album next year.”
However, the singer once more made an appearance to hang up the microphone in 2024, at least during his extensive world tours.
In an Instagram post, Rod wrote: “This will be the end of large-scale world tours for me, but I have no desire to retire. I love what I do and I do what I love. I’m fit, have a full head of hair and can run 100 metres in 18 seconds at the jolly old age of 79.”
He continued, “I’d like to move on to a smaller, more intimate tour of the year after next with the Great American Songbook and Swing Fever.” I might not, though. The unclear Sir Rod Stewart
However, it seems as though everything works out as planned as Sir Rod continued to provide Glasto 2025’s audience with the performance of his lifetime.
The rocker, who is currently leading the lineup this year, said in a statement that he is “proud, ready, and more than capable of delighting and titillating my friends at Glastonbury.”
After being approached by Emily and Michael Eavis, the Maggie May singer jumped at the chance to play the prestigious teatime slot, which is frequently reserved for the elite of music. However, Sir Rod has revealed that accepting this coveted position carries a significant financial risk.
The music legend disclosed that accepting a performance at Glastonbury’s legendary slot will cost him a cool $300, 000 (£237, 780), which he first revealed on talkSPORT Breakfast earlier this year. When questioned about how quickly he accepted the offer, he responded, “Immediately. It’s a great honor.
Then he admitted, “It will cost me a fortune to do it: $300, 0000.” I need to bring all of my band back from America, and Glastonbury won’t, of course. However, I would have done it if it had cost me $1 million. It’s a great honor to do this. It is truly the greatest honor.
In another appearance, this time on the Sidetracked podcast, Sir Rod shared: “Believe it or not, my kids, three of them, all bought their own tickets, because Glastonbury give nothing away. Nothing. Everybody asks me for tickets. All the time. Everywhere. People just come out of the woodwork. ‘Oh, you haven’t spoken to me for 25 years. Any chance I could have a ticket?'”.
The rock aficionados are also having a bad time with the money, though. As he prepares for his iconic performance at Glastonbury, Sir Rod Stewart is never-feying in his health.
Having battled multiple severe health issues previously — including thyroid and prostate cancer — the celebrated musician is taking drastic steps to ensure he’s in prime condition for his big performance.
Source: Mirror
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