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'HE WAS ON TOP OF THE WORLD'

HELLO! UK

July 14, 2025

As Sir Rod Stewart rocks Glastonbury, his proud wife Penny shares her own exclusive photos of a legend still in his prime

As she stood by the side of the stage watching her rock star husband, Sir Rod Stewart, look out at the vast Glastonbury crowd, Penny Lancaster felt an enormous sense of pride.

The model, mother and TV personality has a passion for photography, and as she supported Rod during one of his greatest moments - filling the Legends slot on the festival's Pyramid stage on the closing Sunday - Penny, 54, captured his performance and backstage preparations exclusively for HELLO!.

Speaking of a photograph she took before the show, she recalls: “Rod was staring out at the audience, fixated on the crowd and the flags and the enormity of the occasion. It was humbling and sweet to see how much it meant to him.

“Seeing all the Rod Stewart lookalikes with the wigs, the tartan, the Celtic shirts and the Scottish flags-you just had to soak it up. It was incredible.”

Rod's set featured surprise appearances from his former Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood, Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall and pop icon Lulu.

Wearing his signature flamboyant attire, which included suits in bright pink and green and an open-necked white shirt, he thrilled fans with hits including Maggie May, Baby Jane and Sailing.

However, days before the show - 23 years after his most recent appearance at the festival, in 2002 - the mood in the Stewart camp was very different, as the 80-year-old singer struggled to recover from a serious bout of flu that caused him to cancel a series of dates in the US. Penny tells us: “He had influenza A, which is the worst one you can get. It knocked him sideways - he’s never been so ill in his entire life. About five days before Glastonbury, Rod said: ‘I don’t think I'm going to be well enough. I tried my voice out and it’s not working.’

“He was worrying so much about the expectation and the pressure, everyone relying on him and not wanting to let anyone down. I think it just got in his head.