Rod Stewart is a survivor. The two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, 80, has battled cancer twice and has not only survived. He’s got more than 40 live shows schedule and several album projects in the works.
In an interview for the cover of AARP The Magazine’s June/July issue, Stewart told writer Rob Tannenbaum that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2016 (the same disease former President Joe Biden was recently diagnosed with), while he was working on his 30th studio album, Blood Red Roses.
However, Stewart kept the diagnosis secret from his children, until his doctors let him know he’d beat the disease. “I didn’t want to worry them,” he told AARP. “And I’m all clear now.”
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That was the second time Stewart beat cancer. Back in 2000, when he was 55, a cancerous tumor was discovered on his thyroid gland. That necessitated surgery on his throat and the possibility that the singer would lose his famous voice.
“They didn’t tell me that when I went in for the operation,” Stewart told AARP. “Only when I came out.”
These days, Stewart is healthy and doing fine. When AARP asked him how he keeps physically and mentally fit for his active schedule, he joked, “Lots of women, drugs and wine.” But then he got serious.
“I’ve always had a trainer—same guy for 38 years. I have an indoor pool, massive gym, golf course, everything,” he told the magazine. “We do a lot of underwater training, where the trainer throws a brick into the pool and I have to dive in, push the brick to the end of the pool, and come up. Frank Sinatra once said to me, “Rod, the secret to being a great singer is having powerful lungs. Do lots of underwater swimming, where you hold your breath.”
