Rod Stewart faces backlash as he celebrates at the World Cup after cancelling concert
Updated . First published at
Laryngitis may have stopped Sir Rod Stewart take the stage at a concert this weekend, but it didn’t get between him and supporting his beloved Scottish team at the World Cup.
The musician, 81, is facing backlash from disappointed fans after he cancelled a June 12 concert in California due to health reasons, only to fly across the US to watch Scotland’s win against Haiti in Boston the following day.
Stewart was spotted celebrating Scotland's win. Getty
“It’s been 28 years so these kids, I’ve told them about it, but they’ve never been, I’ve been to seven World Cups,” Stewart said in the clip from a private jet, alongside his sons Liam, 31, and Alastair, 20.
The trio ended the clip with the chant, “No Scotland, no party”.
Later, photos captured Stewart enthusiastically cheering after Scotland’s first World Cup win in 36 years, as the team defeated Haiti 1-0.
The night before, he had called off a concert in San Diego just an hour before he was scheduled to take the stage.
Stewart’s team said he’d been diagnosed with “an acute upper respiratory infection that has resulted in laryngitis”.
Stewart himself added that while he was feeling better after treatment, his voice was not.
While Stewart and his sons were in good spirits, fans of the iconic crooner called out his priorities.
“Now we know why you cancelled your show an hour before,” a fan wrote, labelling Stewart a “grifter”.
“My three sons took my 82-year-old mother out of her nursing facility and drove to San Diego last night. Thanks for crushing an 82-year-old and three young men who wanted to share that moment with her,” one person vented.
Scottish football fans may be happy, but San Diego's Rod Stewart fans are not. Instagram/@alastairwstewart
“The cancellation was frustrating enough, but this comes across as incredibly dismissive of the fans who support your career. A little empathy and awareness would have gone a long way,” said another.
Stewart’s love of the Scottish football team, which is appearing in its first World Cup in 28 years, is no secret.
Despite being born in London, his father was Scottish and Stewart considers it his “spiritual home”.
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