Glastonbury headliner Rod Stewart's bizarre pre-show ritual revealed as he's set to take the stage at iconic festival
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Rod Stewart has revealed his bizarre pre-show ritual ahead of performing the Legends Slot at Glastonbury on Sunday.
The legendary musician recently shared with fans that he always gargles a swig of run and coke ahead of any on stage performance, but never drinks it at any other time.
The 80-year-old British rocker started the tradition 40 years ago and has continued ever since.
During an interview with the Radio Times, the artist also shared that he isn't fussy when it comes to his rider, he said: 'All I need is a few bottles of wine and some crisps, and that’s it. And there’s all these bloody things!'
Amazed at the amount of food that has been prepared in his dressing room ahead of gigs the musician pointed out, 'What am I gonna do with them? No hummus, but big piles of bananas and apples! And when you think the whole world’s bloody starving. I gotta do something about that.'
Rod last performed at Glastonbury over 20 years ago in 2002 when he headlined for the festival.
This year he's taking on the Legends set on Sunday 29 June at 7pm, with the set being available to watch on iPlayer from 7.15pm.
The 90-minute set list is being kept secret but reportedly his hits Maggie May, Sailing and Downtrain Train will feature.
Sir Rod and his wife Penny Lancaster are staying at a £1000-a-night hotel in Bath along with the band.
But three of his children, including 19-year-old Alastair and Ruby, opted for camping tickets after purchasing their own thanks to Glasto's 'no freebies' rule.
However they won't be staying overnight in their tents, as the kids are reportedly staying at the ultra lush Pop-Up Hotel - which costs a whopping £30,000 for the duration of the festival.
The rock star's highly-anticipated gig almost didn't happen though, with Sir Rod telling The Sun ahead of the festival that he nearly cancelled after coming down with the flu.
'This time last week I was thinking of cancelling,' he said. 'It was a close shave. I have had Influenza A. it’s been so terrible.'
There are also set to be appearances from three special guests on Sunday, who are reportedly Mick Hucknall, Lulu and Ronnie Wood.
It comes after it was revealed that Glastonbury denied Rod an extra 15 minutes on stage for his coveted Legends slot, despite him losing £180,000 to play there.
The 80-year-old said: ‘It’s difficult because they only gave me an hour-and-a-quarter slot.
‘So I begged them, “Can I do another 15 minutes? Because usually I play for two hours.”
‘It means that there’s a lot of songs that people love that I won’t be able to play and I’ve got three guests coming on.’
The Maggie May singer, confirmed that his Faces co-star and Rolling Stones guitarist, Ronnie Wood, will be making an appearance.
Sir Rod currently has a Las Vegas residency and has completed 217 shows, but because Glastonbury organisers asked him to perform, he is missing some shows at a hefty price.
He told the Radio Times ‘It was about eight months ago when I was asked to do it. Maybe a little longer, but it didn't fit with my schedule because I’ve got to bring everybody back from America.
Factoring in the price of shipping over the equipment and staging, the father-of-seven said: ‘It’s going to cost me £300,000 to do it and they only pay you about £130,000.
‘So, it’s going to cost me.’
But Sir Rod insisted ‘it doesn’t matter’ and that he was not scrimping for the sake of his team and confirmed his dancers and band would be flying Premium Economy from Vegas to the UK.
He added: ‘We’ve got a little orchestra coming on to play with us and we may have some bagpipes.
‘I’ve got the band all decked out in proper outfits. They all wear white jackets and black ties and the girls wear sequins.
‘It’s a bit more Las Vegas than it’s been before because obviously, I’m doing my residency.’
