He’s been doing this for a while. It’s more than 50 years since Rod Stewart was busking in London. Forty-five years since Maggie May became his first number one single. 

Now 71, Rod doesn’t need people to throw cash into his hat anymore. So what keeps him touring and recording at such a frantic pace?

“It’s something I love to do,” he says. “I like it just as much now. I get paid a lot more now. But money doesn’t come into it. It’s who I am. It’s what I do.

“I’m sure one day I won’t be able to. But I didn’t think I’d still be doing it at 70. I’ve still got the energy and the voice. My retirement is not imminent.”

This is Rod’s only newspaper interview ahead of his summer tour of UK football grounds.

The final date is at Carlisle United’s Brunton Park on June 21.

Thousands will hear him sing his biggest hits. There are plenty to choose from. Sailing. Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? Baby Jane. Hot Legs. Every Beat Of My Heart. Downtown Train. And, as they say, many more.

Rod has survived and thrived through numerous fashions. During the noughties he released five albums in his Great American Songbook series of 1930s’ and 40s’ pop standards. These helped boost his total sales beyond 200 million. Last year’s Another Country was his 29th solo album.

“It’s monumental, the amount of songs I can rely on. We’ll be doing a few from the most recent albums. But I’m not one who believes in shoving a load of new songs down the public’s throat. They’re here to hear what made me famous.”

Does he have a favourite song to perform?

“They’re all my favourites,” he says. “I created them. They’re like my family. You can’t choose. I can’t pick a favourite.”

After more than 40 years, he hasn’t tired of people telling him how important his music is to them.

“It’s extremely flattering. That is the wonderment of music. You can enter someone’s life and stay there ’til their dying day.”

June 21 promises to be a special night, even for the man who sang to the largest crowd ever.

New Year’s Eve, 1994. Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. More than four million people gathered to hear Rod sing.

The Guinness Book of World Records recognises this as the biggest concert in history. But bigger was not better.

“It was too big,” says Rod. “I remember when we played the last note. We finished with Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? As we went off stage, the people on the beach were still hearing the last few bars.”

Even so, isn’t it pretty cool to know that you’ve played the biggest show in history?

“I don’t think about it, mate. I didn’t enjoy it.”

He prefers theatres and stadiums, which is good news for Cumbrians.

“Something like Brunton Park will be great. I’ve had my guys go up there and check the sound out. It will be wonderful.”

Rod has performed there before. His stage on a cold December afternoon in 1992 was the pitch.

That day he was the star of a charity football match.

The sport has long been a passion. Although born and raised in London, with the accent to prove it, Rod is a devoted fan of Celtic and Scotland. His father Robert was Scottish.

“It was a great day out,” he recalls of his previous visit to Brunton Park. “I can’t remember many of the concerts but I remember all the charity football matches.”

The last time he saw Cumbria was on TV while in America last December.

“It’s heartbreaking,” he says of the floods. “It seems to happen every year, in the States as well. Hurricanes in the Midwest and tornadoes.

“I think the Government is to blame for not spending enough on flood defences.”

He pauses.

“If in doubt, blame the Government!”

Rod’s concern for the county was also expressed in a £10,000 donation to Carlisle United’s flood appeal.

United’s chairman Andrew Jenkins offered a thank you – in the form of some meat from his food firm Pioneer.

So what would Rod like?

“Sausages,” he says. “A truckload of sausages! I’ve had Cumberland sausage – there’s a shop down the road where I live in the country.”

Whether or not his diet regularly includes sausages, Rod looks in good shape.

Photos in the papers last week showed him preparing for his return to live shows by hurling a medicine ball around a gym.

“I’m in the gym three or four times a week,” he says. “If I don’t exercise I feel like a polluted pond. Everything needs to be shaken up.”

Such fierce motivation has lasted more than half a century. Rod’s big break came when he joined the Jeff Beck Group, aged 22.

These days many young musicians hit the limelight with shows such as The X Factor.

If he was starting out today, would Rod consider something like that?

“I probably would. I’m one of the few people that are OK with this kind of show.

“I’ve seen so many good friends of mine that had such fabulous talents and they didn’t get a look in. There was no platform for them. There isn’t a pub rock scene anymore.

“These shows are great. The downside is, when you’re on TV everybody wants to know you. Then the next week you’re voted off and no one wants to know you. The psychological damage that does to young artists.”

No such worries for Rod. His personal life seems enviable too. After a well-documented enthusiasm for blonde models, he has been happily married to Penny Lancaster since 2007.

“I’ve got eight tremendous children, a gorgeous wife, my career’s going well. Saying that, I’ll probably be hit by a bus when I go outside!”

Presuming he survives, does Rod have a message for his fans in Cumbria?

“It’s going to be a wonderful show. I do hope the sun shines. But if not we’ll still have a lot of fun. It will be a sexy, wonderful, colourful show. And you’ll hear every song you want to hear.”

  • Rod Stewart performs at Brunton Park on the evening of Tuesday, June 21. Tickets are available from www.ticketline.co.uk .
  • Cumbrian Newspapers’ Readers’ Travel is offering coach and ticket packages from Aspatria, Barrow, Dumfries, Hexham, Maryport, Newcastle, Penrith, Ulverston, Millom, Whitehaven, Wigton and Workington. Call 01228 612211.

Audio interview courtesy of The Bay Breakfast with Danny Matthews (Weekdays 5-10am)