Rod Stewart raises spirits with at-home charity concert

Rod Stewart and his daughter held a charity concert from his Florida home over the Easter long weekend.

The 75-year-old and his daughter Ruby, 32, held the #TogetherAtHome performance in a bid to raise money for the World Health Organization and Global Citizen.

“Hello everybody, this is Rod and Ruby from sunny Florida wishing everybody a happy Easter,” Rod said in the video shared to Facebook. “We’re going to try and entertain you for 20 minutes … it’s going to be absolutely chaotic because neither of us play the guitar, but we’re going to do our best.”

Throughout the 20-minute at-home concert Rod and Ruby sung in perfect harmony, moving from the lounge room to the piano performing some of Rod’s greatest hits, including ‘When I Was Younger’, ‘Dirty Old Town’ and ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’.

The father-daughter duo took breaks between songs to dance together and chat to fans. At one point, Ruby, who is a singer like her father and also works as a model, even brought in the family’s dog Ziggy to say hello.

As the concert was coming to an end, the pair were joined by other members of the family including Rod’s wife Penny Lancaster and their sons Alastair, 14 and Aiden, nine, with the tight-knit family performed Rod’s hit song ‘Forever Young’ in an acapella style.

Rod also took the opportunity to show his gratitude for those working on the frontlines of the pandemic, saying: “Thank you to all the health care workers worldwide for putting their lives at risk to care for others. God bless you. We’ll pay you back somehow, we have to.”

Fans were touched by the beautiful performance.

“What a great performance, I just heard it coming home from my evening shift in healthcare,” @AnnemarieRekmans wrote on Facebook. “Thank you very much, I needed [these] good vibes. Stay safe and healthy.”

“Thank you so much, really lifted the spirits,” @LindaSpinelli said. “Ruby your voice is beautiful and you look like your dad! So enjoyed seeing the whole family having fun. Stay safe. Have my fingers crossed I’ll be seeing you in August.”

While @LoreenSkipyHunt added: “You guys are amazing. Enjoying all your music all the way over in New Zealand. Looking forward to your concert over here if it still goes ahead. Stay safe guys.”

Earlier this year, Rod celebrated his 75th birthday in hospital as he recovered from knee replacement surgery. Penny took to Instagram to post a snap of the star dressed in a white dressing gown, compression socks and stockings.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7JT8cmAwob/?utm_source=ig_embed

“Roddy is doing remarkably well after his knee replacement surgery on Tuesday (so well that the naughty boy keeps trying to walk without his crutches),” she wrote at the time. “Luckily he is being discharged today to celebrate his 75th tonight and home this weekend to see the boys play football!”