Rod Stewart says political correctness has ruined the use of terms such as 'darling' and 'love'.
The Maggie May singer defended his use of the words, saying they are used in a friendly way and not intended to cause offence.
The 76-year-old music legend admitted he even calls some of his male pals the names too.
Sir Rod told the Daily Star: “You’re not allowed to call anybody ‘darling’ or ‘love’ – that’s all out the window now.
“I think that they’re friendly terms, as long as it’s not shouting across the road, ‘Allo, darling, what you got in that basket?’
“All the girls in my band I call darling, and I don’t think their husbands or boyfriends are offended. I call men friends darling. I call Elton (John) darling.”
Sir Rod, who has eight kids by five different women, has bragged he bedded so many women in his pomp he lost count.
He added: “I did nothing wrong at all. I never had sex with anybody underage, never forced anybody to have sex.
“In fact, sex was always too much for me, it was always there, and it became boring.
“There were a lot of beautiful women, but we had nothing to say at the end of the evening.”
