Sir Rod Stewart couldn’t contain his smile as he departed The Ritz in London with wife Penny Lancaster on Tuesday after celebrating his Glastonbury headline announcement. 

The hitmaker, 79, was the first act confirmed for Glastonbury 2025, with the festival announcing on Tuesday that the rock star will play the Legends slot on the Pyramid Stage – which led to backlash from fans who mistakenly thought he is main headliner.

The appearance will mark 23 years after his last performance at the Somerset festival and Rod will follow in the footsteps of Shania Twain in 2024 play the famous Sunday teatime ‘legends’ slot.

Rod partied the night away as he exited the luxury 5-star H๏τel in Mayfair with a red feather boa around his neck, despite the fact that his Glastonbury performance will set him back hundreds of thousands of pounds.

He dressed to impress in a black suit which he paired with a smart white open collar shirt and a black and white untied spotted tie. 

Sir Rod Stewart couldn’t contain his smile as he departed The Ritz in London with wife Penny Lancaster on Tuesday after celebrating his Glastonbury headline announcement – despite backlash from fans 

 

The hitmaker, 79, was the first act confirmed for Glastonbury 2025, with the festival announcing on Tuesday that the rock star will play the Legends slot on the Pyramid Stage – but he’ll take a huge financial hit to perform 

Rod rocked a pair of eye catching red tartan sock and completed his evening outfit with a pair of leopard print shoes. 

Meanwhile Penny wowed in a sparkly black long sleeved dress which showed off her amazing figure. 

She put on a leggy display in the knee length number and elevated her frame in a pair of black stilettos. 

Penny was all smiles as she was walked to the couple’s waiting Rolls Royce by a doorman who kept her dry from the British weather under an umbrella. 

Earlier in the day, Rod spoke to talkSPORT Breakfast, where he revealed he agreed to the Glastonbury gig, ‘Immediately. It’s a great honour.’

However, the singer claimed that playing the hit legends slot at Worthy Farm will cost him a whopping $300,000 (£237,780).

Rod said: ‘It’s going to cost me a fortune to do it – $300,0000.’

The rocker explained that he will have to foot the bill for the cost of bringing his live band over from the US, but he insisted it’s worth every penny and he would be willing to shelve out a million dollars (£792,500) for the privilege.

The appearance will mark 23 years after his last performance at the Somerset festival and Rod will follow in the footsteps of Shania Twain in 2024 play the famous Sunday teatime ‘legends’ slot

Celebrating the news, Rod partied the night away as he exited the 5-star H๏τel with a red feather boa around his neck

He dressed to impress in a black suit which he paired with a smart white open collar shirt and a black and white untied spotted tie

Meanwhile Penny wowed in a sparkly black long sleeved dress which showed off her amazing figure

She put on a leggy display in the knee length number and elevated her frame in a pair of black stilettos

Penny was all smiles as she was walked to the couple’s waiting Rolls Royce by a doorman who kept her dry from the British weather under an umbrella

Earlier in the day, Rod spoke to talkSPORT Breakfast, where he revealed he agreed to the Glastonbury gig, ‘Immediately. It’s a great honour’

However, the singer claimed that playing the hit legends slot at Worthy Farm will cost him a whopping $300,000 (£237,780). Rod said: ‘It’s going to cost me a fortune to do it – $300,0000’

He explained: ‘I’ve got to bring all my band back from America, of course Glastonbury don’t pay for that. But I don’t care if it cost me $1 million, I would have done it. This is a great honour. It really is the greatest honour’; pictured 2023

He explained: ‘I’ve got to bring all my band back from America, of course Glastonbury don’t pay for that. But I don’t care if it cost me $1 million, I would have done it. This is a great honour. It really is the greatest honour.’

The music legend will be 80 when he plays Worthy Farm and will follow in the footsteps of Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, Barry Gibb and Kylie Minogue by playing the legends slot.

Read More Rod Stewart confirmed to play Glastonbury 2025 legends slot

However, Glastonbury 2025 ticket holders have slammed the festival for signing Rod as they insisted the booking is the ‘final nail’ in the coffin for the festival.

Taking to X – formerly known as Twitter – fans raged that Rod ‘needs to retire’ and that many young fans will not know his music.  

‘Rod Stewart needs to retire. The legends slot will be painful to watch/listen to #Glastonbury; The final nail in Glastonbury’s coffin; Rod Stewart headlining Glastonbury. Will anyone under 50 even know any of his songs; 

‘Rod Stewart headlining Glastonbury legends stage. Another reason not to go. 380 quid a ticket is the other reason; Imagine spending nearly £400 on a ticket only to discover that Rod Stewart is the main act. You’re going to want to jhope there’s a decent act on elsewhere.’

But others were delighted at the prospect of seeing Rod perform at Glastonbury again.

‘Sunday afternoon, sun shining and a couple of beers listening to the songs your dad played in the car… what’s not to like!’ exclaimed one ticket holder.

‘He was a great headliner in 2002 can’t wait to see him again’ agreed another.

Rod told the BBC that he was ‘proud and ready’ to play at the sold out festival, adding that – at the age of 79 – he was ‘more than able to pleasure and тιтillate’ the crowd.

However, Glastonbury 2025 ticket holders have slammed the festival for signing Rod as they insisted the booking is the ‘final nail’ in the coffin for the festival 

The singer, who will turn 80 in January, will become one of the oldest artists to perform a major set at Glastonbury

He previously headlined the festival in 2002, alongside Coldplay and Stereophonics

Penny waved to cameras as the couple climbed into the luxury car

Penny turned heads in her glamorous sequinned dress as she celebrated her husband at The Ritz 

She was all smiles as she exited the 5-star H๏τel sheltering from the rain under an umbrella 

Penny showed off her amazing figure in the glittering number 

He previously headlined the festival in 2002, alongside Coldplay and Stereophonics. 

His 2025 appearance was announced by co-organiser Emily Eavis in a post on Instagram on Tuesday, which read: ‘Bringing Sir Rod Stewart back for the Sunday afternoon slot on the Pyramid Stage is everything we could wish for.’ 

‘What a way to bow out with the final legends slot before we take a fallow year. We cannot wait.’

The singer, who will turn 80 in January, will become one of the oldest artists to perform a major set at Glastonbury.

The five-day festival takes place in June at Somerset’s Worth Farm and draws in around around 200,000 music fans each year to watch some of the world’s biggest musicians perform.

The official Glastonbury tickets went on sale on November 14 and November 17.

The stakes were even higher than usual, as 2026 will be a fallow year, meaning the festival will not go ahead.