Having eight children with five different wives, it’s safe to say that Rod’s love life has been as colorful as his music career
Not only is she a famous rock star with a career spanning over 50 years, Rod Stewart actually lived the typical rocker lifestyle
Having eight children – ages nine to 57 – with five different wives, it’s safe to say Rod’s love life has been as colorful as his music career
And although he’s now married to wife number three Penny Lancaster, it took a while for him to recover from his split from second wife Rachel Hunter.
Rod, now 75, met Rachel in 1990, when he was 45 and 21
It was instant chemistry for the couple, with the rocker already a household name as Rachel made the cover of every major magazine in the world
He once said: « In the eight years we were together I was completely faithful Rachel was all I wanted; I became a devoted husband overnight »
The couple then welcomed two children, a son named Liam and a daughter named Renee
They were the definition of a powerful couple and needless to say, head over heels in love
Rachel made the decision to leave Rod in 1999, leaving him confused as to how anyone could ever leave a rock star
« I was a rock star You don’t throw a rock star! It hit me for six It was a huge shock »
Rachel is 26 years younger than Rod and the hitmaker admitted the age difference had an impact on their relationship
« She was only 21 when we got married and mom a year later My sister Mary told me she was too young for me as we walked down the aisle And she was right »
Rod was sure Rachel was the woman he wanted to marry after they met at a nightclub in Los Angeles
Writing in his autobiography, Rod: The Autobiography of Rod Stewart, Rod previously revealed that he had been in the midst of plans to propose to model Kelly Emberg (the mother of his daughter Ruby) at the time
In fact, the plans were more or less set in stone, as he had previously hired a plane to track down a banner that asked the question
And just one night before he considered asking for Kelly’s hand in marriage, Rod met Rachel
« She was extremely beautiful, but there was also something nonsense about her It was there in her New Zealand accent, but also in her face, which was open and intelligent »
What seemed to attract Rod even more was the fact that Rachel had made a living and wasn’t looking for a man to support her financially
He wrote: « Not only was she as far removed from the flaky model stereotype as possible, but she already had money and fame
« It was a relief In my position, that suspicion was still there: does this woman really love me, or just my surroundings? »
But although from the outside watching the pair had a wedding that others could only dream of, Rachel later admitted that she found the lifestyle « oppressive » and began to feel that she had lost her sense of self
Speaking to the Daily Mirror in 2001, she said: “To the outside world, I was a mother of two beautiful children, a wife of Rod and a successful model with no financial worries, but inside, I was in turmoil »
She added: « At 29, I had spent eight years with someone else’s group of friends
« In the nine years we spent together, I never did anything for myself If you’d asked me what I liked or didn’t like, I couldn’t have told you I didn’t didn’t even have a hobby «
She added: « Like many women who marry young and find themselves mothers at 25, I felt that I no longer had an identity. I was just nothing »
Rod was devastated and in deep grief that would weaken him for four long months
He said: « I lost 12 pounds in weight I was cold all the time I started lying on the couch during the day, with a blanket over me and holding a hot water bottle to my chest I knew then why it is called broken heart: you can feel it in your heart I was distracted, almost to the point of madness «
In a desperate attempt to cope, he turned to therapy and began yoga before the dark cloud gradually dissipated and he met his current wife, Penny Lancaster, a year later.
These days Rod and Penny, 49, remain on good terms with Rachel, 51, and Rod’s first wife, Alana Stewart
Rod is also a proud dad to his daughter, Sarah, 56, from a teenage relationship; Kimberly, 40, and Sean, 39, from her marriage to Alana; and Ruby, 32, about her relationship with Kelly
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Rod Stewart, Rachel Hunter, Penny Lancaster, Alana Stewart, Kelly Emberg
World News – UK – Rod Stewart says Rachel Hunter split ‘hit him for six » after throwing it
