Rod Stewart 's wife has revealed that his vocal cords were affected by covid as he performed Sweet Caroline at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Penny appeared on Loose Women today talking about her husband's performance over the weekend as many branded it "cringeworthy" and said the rocker sounded off key while he performed the Neil Diamond number one.
Rod claimed that the BBC 'made' him finish off his Platinum Jubilee set by singing Sweet Caroline.
Fans at the Buckingham Palace gig were overjoyed to watch him perform some of his biggest hits at the weekend on a specially constructed 360 degree stage.
Prince George and Prince William sang along while Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall waved their flags.
Rod told the 22,000 strong crowd: "The BBC made me sing this one."
The 77-year-old even asked the crowd - including Prince William and Kate - to "join in, make it comfortable for me" as he launched into the catchy track.
And now, Penny has revealed that his voice was a bit rusty due to having covid just the week before.
Speaking on the ITV show today about the weekend, she said: "It was spectacular, it started out on Friday and I was policing at St Paul's cathedral...then of course, Rod's performance!"
Charlene said: "And the Queen specifically asked for Sweet Caroline?"
Penny added: "Yes, the BBC said Rod we need you to sing Sweet Caroline, it's the Queen's favourite you have to do it so he didn't have much of a choice."
Coleen then went on to ask: "Didn't he nearly pull out at the last minute?"
Penny replied: "Yes! It was very very touch and go and he was so nervous leading up to it and he was three weeks in Vegas and caught covid just after the last show, he came home and was past the ten day period of being contagious but he lost his voice.
"So the sound check on the Wednesday he went along and wore a mask but had no voice and he was like how long can I leave it?"
She added: "So he went for another rehearsal on the Friday but his voice is there now but he wasn't quite on, but he didn't want to disappoint anybody. It wasn't the Rod Stewart show it was for the nation and for everybody to come together for the Queen and he wanted to please the people so that was the song."
On the night, some of the biggest names in the music industry came out in force to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, which marked Her Majesty's 70 years on the throne.
However, during his set, some fans were puzzled by his voice whilst other fans took to Twitter to share their excitement to see him back on stage and said they loved his performance.
"Rod Stewart cringeworthy #platinumpartyatthepalace," one fan wrote, as a second added: "God sake, someone please make Rod Stewart stop!!!! #PlatinumPartyatthePalace."
A third shared: "Time to hang up the microphone Rod #PlatinumPartyatthePalace," whilst others were much more positive about his performance, with a fourth writing: "Well done Rod Stewart. Feel good sing-a-long! #SweetCaroline #PlatinumPartyatthePalace."
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