Rod Stewart has revealed he was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago, and has now been given the all-clear, following treatment.
Speaking at a fundraising event for the Prostate Project charity, he said: “Two years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I’m in the clear now, simply because I caught it early … I’ve worked for two years and I’ve just been happy, and the good Lord looked after me.”
He recommended men have their prostates checked: “Guys, you’ve got to really go to the doctor … Finger up the bum, no harm done.” At the event, he also reunited for a performance with former Faces bandmates Ronnie Wood and Kenney Jones.
It is the second time Stewart, 74, has had treatment for cancer – in 2000, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. “I felt fearful, vulnerable to a degree that I never had before,” he later wrote in an autobiography, but the tumour was quickly removed. “No chemotherapy was required – which, in turn, meant there was no risk that I’d lose my hair,” he wrote. “And let’s face it: if we’re ranking threats to the survival of my career, losing my hair would be second only to losing my voice.”
Stewart is beginning a short Las Vegas concert residency this week, ahead of an arena tour of the UK beginning in Manchester on 23 November. His most recent album, Blood Red Roses, was released in September 2018 and reached No 1 in the UK.
