Rod Stewart announces retirement and farewell tour

Sir Rod Stewart has announced his retirement, just weeks after opening up about his recent health struggles. The British icon, 81, has revealed he will take to the stage for the very last time next year, bringing the curtain down on a career that has spanned more than six decades. The singer, known for hits like 'Maggie May' and 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?', took to social media on Monday to break the news. Sir Rod wrote: "My dear friends, the time has come to say farewell to life on the road."

He unveiled his The Final Encore tour, which will see him bid farewell to fans across the UK and Europe. The run of dates kicks off on April 23 at Dublin's 3Arena, before moving on to London, Amsterdam and Berlin, concluding on July 24 at Hannover's ZAG Arena. "After more than six decades, The Final Encore will most definitely be my last," Rod confirmed. "I've been singing the music I love since I was 19 years old, and I've had the privilege of taking it around the world to all of you.

It has given me a life beyond anything I could ever have imagined, and I hope I've given you some fond memories in return. "So, may I take this opportunity to thank you for making this extraordinary life possible. I hope you'll join me so I can thank you the best way I know how... with the music and one hell of a show. See you there." Earlier this month Rod updated fans on his health following his withdrawal from several shows over the summer.

During one concert in the US, he was forced to stop mid-performance as backstage staff guided him to the wings, where he was spotted taking several puffs on an oxygen tank. What followed was a series of health struggles for the Maggie May singer, and now his wife, model Penny Lancaster, 55, who wed Rod in 2007, has provided a fresh update on his current health condition. Penny Lancaster revealed that the singer had been battling an "underlying heart issue".

Speaking to Vanessa Feltz's YouTube series At Home With Vanessa, she said: "He'd gone through a couple of incidents where he had an upper respiratory infection and then he was at a concert where there was a very high altitude, so it would affect anybody but what we didn't know was there was an underlying heart issue. "I mean, he's like one of the fittest guys I know. Forget being fit for 80 odd, he's fit for someone my age in their fifties.

You get young kids collapsing with with heart issues unknown to them. "Fortunately, it was at the right time in the right place and they detected a slight blockage which needed a stent which, according to a lot of research, it appears that most people over the age of 65 will often need and require a stent." Penny went on to say: "As one gets older, most likely over the age of 65, 75, to get heart disease or to get prostate cancer.

And my husband's had both. "But when people say they die of natural causes, that's what they mean. They die of heart disease or cancer because that's natural. We're living longer - we're going to die of something." She went on to confirm, however, that the condition had been caught in good time and that Sir Rod was keen to get back out on stage.