As fans prepare to share the mood of love when Rod Stewart arrives for his eagerly-awaited date in Durham, the legendary rocker has been opening up about his romantic side.
The enduring favourite - who will be stopping off at the Seat Unique Riverside ground in Chester-le-Street on June 30 on a summer tour which is part of his Global Hits Tour - has been chatting about his famously strong marriage to Penny Lancaster and about life, which takes in the likes of the health regime that keeps him looking fit and his current tour.
In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, the rock star was talking on the day of his 16th wedding anniversary but Penny wasn't with him at their Essex mansion; she was in Italy picking truffles but soon would be back home.
And it seems absence only makes the heart grow fonder, with Sir Rod saying: "We often spend all day apart." He described how romance reigns at home, adding: “I’m definitely more romantic than she is.
“I dress up every night for a formal dinner together. I absolutely love it. I love lighting all the candles.” The rocker, who also played Newcastle's Utilita Arena in December, has been much in the news over the past year for matters other than music.
As The Mirror reports, his sense of social responsibility has seen him fund a mission to the Ukraine to rescue refugees at the border, then housing them and finding them jobs, and pay for MRI scans to help cut down on NHS waiting lists - all while performing his Global Hits tour around the world. Penny too has been campaigning, about the menopause, while juggling a successful TV career and shifts as a special constable with the City of London Police, the interview adds.
Family man Sir Rod said: “We often joke about the fact that we can both be in this large house in Essex and not see each other. We stay within the perimeters of the house but we don’t see each other until the evening.
“We wake up, have a cup of tea in bed together, and then she goes her way and I go mine. It’s lovely, we are not on top of each other all the time. We’re very fortunate in that position.”
Speaking after a work-out - "SAS" style he says, adding: "Nothing stops me from doing that" - the now 78-year-old dad-of-eight says of his tour: "I’ve got 12 in my band, and six gorgeous women, and we have lots and lots of fun.
"They are all very young, in their 20s and 30s, and they keep me young. We like a drink before we go on, and a drink when we come off too. We party but at the same time we’re very, very professional.”
In keeping with the mutual love between Sir Rod and his fans, early tickets for this summer's added series of just six dates went on sale on St Valentine's Day and the County Durham show - which will see him supported by Boy George - is now all set to be a highight of the summer.
His legions of fans can expect a medley of classics and all-time favourites such as I Am Sailing, Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? and Maggie May. Also coming up at the Riverside ground this summer will be The Who who are to take to the stage there on July 19.
