Sir Rod Stewart's rigorous pre-show routine is revealed ahead of highly-anticipated Glastonbury Legends slot - amid news it was nearly CANCELLED
Forget the drugs and alcohol, Sir Rod Stewart is reportedly taking his personal trainer to Glastonbury for his Legends set.
The legendary singer-songwriter, 80, is descending on Worthy Farm on Sunday to perform on the Pyramid Stage in the coveted Legends slot.
But after recently falling ill and being forced to cancel five shows, Sir Rod has been taking every precaution to ensure he's in his best shape for the show.
Speaking to The Mirror, a source has now lifted the lid on Rod's preparation for Sunday's gig, saying: 'He is fully-fit and raring to go.
'His trainer works wonders so it was a no-brainer to have them at the festival.'
The publication reported that Sir Rod has been swimming lengths in his pool four times a week and been on a period of vocal rest to ensure his raspy voice is firing on all cylinders in preparation.
'It's been quite hard as Rod is a chatterbox, but he knows he needs to preserve what's his biggest weapon…his voice,' the source added.
The star's 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, who has not performed at Glastonbury since 2002, 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.'
The You Wear It Well singer is set to perform next Sunday at the coveted teatime Legends slot but fears are mounting if he will be well enough to perform after he had to cancel or postpone six of his June concerts in the US because he was suffering from flu.
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