Main photo Sir Rod Stewart Instagram
Rod hits out at US President Donald Trump
This week started with Sir Rod hitting out at US President Donald Trump over his false claims about British troops in Afghanistan.urging UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to force Trump to apologise for his recent remarks on British troops who served in Afghanistan.
The President questioned whether Nato allies would come to America’s aid, and claimed some nations avoided serving on the front line in Afghanistan, during a Fox News interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Sir Rod shared a video message on Instagram condemning Trump’s comments and describing them as “unbearable”.
“I may just be a humble rock star, but I’m also a Knight of the realm, and I have my opinions,” he said in the clip shared on Friday . “I was born just after the war, and I have great respect for our armed forces that fought and gave us our freedom,” he added.
“So it hurts me badly, deeply, when I read that draft dodger Trump has criticised our troops in Afghanistan for not being on the front line.” Stewart went on to highlight the scale of British deaths during the conflict, where 457 UK service personnel were killed.
“We lost over 400 of our guys,” he said. “Think of their parents. Think about it. And Trump calls them almost like cowards. It’s unbearable.”
He ended by asking Starmer and Farage to appeal to Trump: “So I’m calling on you, Prime Minister Starmer and Farage, please make the draft dodger Trump apologise. Please.”
On Sunday The Daily Star made Rod it’s front page news, even if it was a bit over the top
While the US President has not directly apologised for his comments, he did share a social media post shortly after his conversation with Sir Keir at the weekend.
He wrote: ‘The great and very brave soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!
‘In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors.
‘It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken. The UK Military, with tremendous Heart and Soul, is second to none (except for the USA!). We love you all, and always will!’
This week’s Rod Art
This week we feature the work of Marc Ratner an Investigative Animator based in California
Marc told SMILER this week “I just wanted to include some elements that help capture Mr Stewart’s essence. I decided to make him a rooster because of his hair and strut or swagger. And the soccer ball because he’s a football fan (I forgot what team he supports). That’s about it really. I hope the SMILER crew likes it!”
To see more work posted daily by Marc go to https://www.instagram.com/astigfa/
Nicky Hopkins Piano Room
Pear Tree Park Bistro held the official opening of The Nicky Hopkins Piano Room on Sunday at Stockdove Way, Perivale, Greenford UB6 8TJ.
The opening was officiated by the Worshipful Mayor of Ealing, Cllr. Anthony Kelly with special guest Paddy Milner, pianist to Tom Jones.
Organised by Cllr Tariq Mahmood
For more info go to https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581483261276&locale=en_GB
Nicky played on “Morning Dew”, “You Shook Me”, “Beck’s Bolero” and “Blues Deluxe” on the Jeff Beck Group album “Truth” the earliest recording of what we now call Heavy Metal and also “Beck-Ola” the second studio album from the group.
Nicky went on to play with The Beatles, The Who and The Kinks and he’s on 14 Rolling Stones albums in a prolific discography of over 250 albums, In 2025 he was inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall Of Fame and included in his session work with Rod’s solo work he played on the albums “Footloose And Fancy Free”, “Blondes Have More Fun” and “Every Beat Of My Heart”
Harmony: A King’s Vision
On Wednesday Rod and Penny attended the Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision premiere at Windsor Castle.
King Charles and Queen Camilla attended the film’s launch – in the first premiere held at Windsor Castle, with the spectacular Waterloo Chamber turned into a makeshift cinema.
Dame Judi Dench, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Jools Holland and Stanley Tucci were also among the celebrities at the glitzy premiere.
The King’s spokesman said this was a different kind of royal documentary – without any gold carriages or glittering crowns.
Instead the golden thread running through the 90-minute documentary is the King’s own philosophy of “harmony”, that brings together environmentalism, religion, architecture, art and design.
He provides his own description: “It all boils down to the fact that we are actually nature ourselves, we are a part of it, not apart from it, which is really how things are being presented for so long,” says the King.
The film, made in collaboration with his King’s Foundation charity, is a sometimes elegiac look at his many decades of campaigning to protect the natural world.
He watches himself making a speech in 1970, aged 21, arguing the environmentalist cause. The accent might have been plummier, but his position has been remarkably consistent, even though he has faced mockery, saying that people thought his views were “bonkers”.
Elsewhere in the documentary, narrated by Kate Winslet, he is described as a “bit of a hippie”.
And the movie addresses one of the hardiest old chestnuts about the King – that he talks to plants – showing how the comments he made about being close to nature became an opportunity to marginalise his views.
Although as the decades went by, support for sustainability became more mainstream and his views were seen as going from “crazy” to “common sense”.
Putting ideas into practice has been an important part of his approach. Dumfries House in Ayrshire has been renovated and turned into a training centre in a part of Scotland hit badly by the closure of local coal mines.
The film shows how this project has become an important local asset and economic driver, providing jobs and skills, training 10,000 people a year.
Highgrove, a quirky and characterful house in Gloucestershire, that seems allergic to straight lines, has become a living laboratory for his organic gardening and farming techniques.
The King is seen in Highgrove feeding chickens and collecting eggs, in a shed called Cluckingham Palace.
He also gives a glimpse of the outside of his “sanctuary”, a private place for his own personal reflection. Reflecting his deep interest in religion and spirituality, above the door is inscribed the prayer: “Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord.”
The inclusivity of his beliefs are also suggested as we see him at a fire ceremony, alongside indigenous peoples wearing elaborate headdresses, at an inaugural “Harmony Summit” last summer.
And Finally ..
On Tuesday this week Rod popped into McCafferty’s Crouch End London , the bar posted this great shit saying ‘An absolute legend and an honour to have him in the house’
Cheers..See you next week