Main photo thanks to Care Of Police Survivors [COPS]
ABBA Voyage
This week Rod and Penny attended a performance of ABBA Voyage in London and met up with 80’s singer Howard Jones, Rod shared the photo of himself and Howard at Olympic Park on his Instagram and captioned it: “The boys”.
Deputy keys player for the show Jenny Deacon said
‘An absolute pleasure to meet Sir Rod Stewart last night after he watched ABBA Voyage last night.
A true lad and a true gent complimenting every band member and giving appreciation to every member of the team who made the show possible, all with the biggest smile on his face, cracking jokes at any moment he could.
As I left and gave my thanks for him taking the time to spend time with us, he took my hand, gave it a peck and said with such sincerity “have the most wonderful career”
What. A. Diamond.‘
Producer of ABBA Voyage Svana Gisla also gave us another brilliant shot
ABBA’s Frida also shared a vintage picture of Björn, Benny and herself attending Rod’s concert in Stockholm, on her 35th birthday in 1980.
Last word on this one to Penny!
Touching Tribute
A picture of Rod’s touching tribute to his mate Jeff Beck was posted on facebook after Jeff’s funeral on Friday
COPS Winter Ball
Penny was once again on hand to support the great charity Care Of Police Survivors [COPS] the only peer support charity for the families of officers and staff who have died on duty that she is a patron of.
Penny was joined by Rod this year as she hosted the annual Winter Ball to help raise more than £48,000 at the first fundraising event in the charity’s 20th anniversary year.
More than 250 people attended the “sold out” black-tie event at the
National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, with headline sponsorship provided by police support service provider SSCL. As well as a lavish drinks reception, a three-course dinner and live entertainment from the Fabulators, Penny was introduced to the charity after she took part in a reality TV show about policing.
Prior to the auction Penny handed over the proceeds of an interview she had done following her passing out parade – the police equivalent of a graduation ceremony. The cheque for £8,750 was then matched by her husband who said he was immensely proud of his wife, “She’s the best, Penny’s taken policing to heart and it means so much to her, even though I do become a little worried if she was late home from her duty – particularly in the early hours of the morning, because she has had to fill out paperwork, otherwise I am right behind her!”
The amazing guys from UK Police Unity Tour were invited to the event at the National Memorial Arboretum and took this brilliant shot of Rod and Penny with the COPS car
This Weeks Rod Art
Another very different Rod art this week as we feature pop artist Sunn Tee who is based in Warrington and told SMILER this week about his latest retro style artistic production “I was thinking of unlikely TV parts for famous people to appear in. The Two Ronnies meet Planet of The Apes, Tony Blackburn as the Hulk, Bowie as Dr Who etc. None of them were working particularly well, when I started to think about reading the comic strips in Look In (The Junior TV Times), how much I enjoyed Wurzel Gummidge and about my late Dad loving The Faces. I thought about Rod’s glamorous 70’s lifestyle, the “Sailing” video etc and him being to opposite of ‘Ol Wurzel. I got the first picture down and it made me laugh, so I continued in this vein, and hey presto!“
To see more art work from Sunn Tee go to https://www.instagram.com/original_apache_tee/?hl=en
RIP Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach passed away of natural causes at the age of 94, it was reported on Thursday and confirmed by his publicist, Tina Brausam.
A six-time Grammy Award-winner and three-time Oscar-winner, Bacharach’s songwriting was the stuff of legend; songs he penned over the course of his career have been covered by more than a thousand different artists.
In 1982 Rod recorded one of the most popular songs of the late ’80s that actually has its origins in score for the film ‘Night Shift’ , “That’s What Friends Are For,” was a massive hit for Dionne Warwick but sung first by Rod over the film’s closing credits.
Rod also contributed along with Burt Bacharach, Martina McBride, James Taylor and Dionne Warwick in 2008 to the Steve Tyrell album ‘Back To Bacharach on the track ‘What The World needs Now’
Rich Rod
Published every year, the special Rich List edition of The Sunday Times Magazine reveals the wealth of the 250 richest people in Britain. Rod came in at number 13 in the music section with an estimated fortune of £215 million – the same as in 2021.
And Finally..
Rod ended the week in Puerto Rico ready to start the next leg of his tour, and Kimberly posted a great shot on her social media with Benicio del Toro share and daughter Delilah with Rod .
Are you going to any shows?…If you are going to Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot, San Juan tonight, Hard Rock Live at Seminole, Hollywood, Florida on Monday or Tuesday or Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Event Center, Tampa, Florida on Thursday have a fantastic time and don’t forget to send in ant photos, reviews or thoughts for next weeks News And Gossip
See you next week