EXCLUSIVE: Rod Stewart Sparks MASSIVE New Fears By Admitting He 'Gargles' Booze Before Gigs — And 'Loves' to Drink and Throw Wild 'Dancing Girl' Parties Backstage
June 24 2025, Published 11:00 a.m. ET
Rod Stewart is still partying as hard as ever at 80 – and his family and friends are now gripped with fear it will land him in an early grave within weeks.
RadarOnline.com can reveal despite repeated warnings to slow and down – and his loved ones planning an intervention over his reckless antics – he is still downing booze as a "warm up" for his gigs.
He's then following it with a few bottles of wine amid wild after-show parties where he loves the company of his backing dancers putting on raunchy displays in the dressing room.
Eternal Hellraiser
Stewart says he loves to gargle booze before gigs.
New fears over his health have ignited after Maggie May rock survivor Stewart said when asked in a recent interview about whether he swerves drinking at his shows given his ripe old age: "No, no, I do the bar as well." He then declared: "One thing I do love is a drink."
Stewart added about his regular tour rider: "All I need is a few bottles of wine and some crisps, and that's it… no houmous." He went on: "The band have their booze that they request and I have mine. "But I think why I love touring now is that we have the best after-gig party. |All the girls come, we all get showered, all the girls are dancing.
"We put music on and we’re all having a laugh. It's so much more fun than it was in the old days with just the guys. "So many egos and drug-taking. It's brilliant, I love it now."
Stewart added about his pre-gig booze ritual: "I always have a little gargle before I go on: rum and coke. Been drinking that 40 years."
His admissions come after RadarOnline.com reported one of Stewart's recent boozy benders embarrassingly ended with him being nearly carried out of a Polish pub.
He pounded down round after round for an astounding five hours while watching a soccer match at Ronnie Drew's Irish Bar, following a lively leg of his One Last Time farewell tour in Krakow.
"When he left, he had to be steered out by his minders and was stumbling a bit," our eyewitness said. "The punters in the bar loved it and were cheering for him."
Deadly Antics
The rocker's family have been keen on staging an intervention – but he'll be having none of it.
Stewart's pals, however, found less humor in his boozy spree after his recent health scares – surviving bouts with cancer in 2016 and 2020 – as well as his advanced age and previous incidents involving drink.
Stewart and his son Sean were disgracefully busted in 2019 for a New Year's Eve run-in with a bouncer outside an exclusive Palm Beach hotel.
Police reports said Sean, 44, allegedly shoved a bouncer and Stewart hit him in the chest "with a closed fist" after they were denied entry.
Stewart ultimately pleaded guilty to simple battery for his role in the ugly incident.
And a pal told RadarOnline.com: "He's still at it despite antics like that and things are so bad his family and friends have been talking about staging an intervention for him and getting him at-home help as going to rehab isn't suitable for him, especially at his age as he loves his home comforts.
"But they're scared he'll laugh it off and carry on drinking until it kills him. They know it is very hard to teach an old dog new tricks."
Mortality Reality
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Stewart says he knows his days are numbered – but he's not scared.
In 2021, the Forever Young singer vowed to cut back on his boozing, but he clearly hasn't stuck to his promise.
"Rod always prided himself on his ability to pound down his drinks with the best of them," our insider said.
They added: "But now people are afraid of the cumulative damage he’s done to himself."
Still, the Hot Rod, as he’s long been known, has been candid about his intent to keep revving the engine as long as he's able.
"I'm aware my days are numbered, but I've got no fear," Stewart has grimly insisted.
He added about facing up to his mortality: "We have all got to pass on at some point, so we are all in the same basket.
"I am going to be enjoying myself for these last few years as much as I can. I say few – probably another 15. I can do that easy mate, easy."
