>> here i am at rod stewart's palatial beverly hills mance. ♪ if you want my body and you think i'm sexy ♪ ? i'm told the only thing that's more impressive than the great man himself is what lies behind those doors. let us go and find out, shall we ♪ come on honey tell me so ♪ ooh ooh ♪ rod, here we are in the expansive library of your beverly hills mansion. i suppose the obvious question is i look around the extraordinary art on the walls, the expensive book collection, the different statues is -- >> are they paid for. >> a that because you're scottish, b, where did it all go wrong, rod. >> famous george -- >> i mean how do you feel? honestly when you come to this extraordinary house, given your background, given that you came from very little as a young guy, you've ended up here in the middle of hollywood having had this extraordinary career. what do you think when you sit here in this room, what do you think. >> well, there's not a day goes by i don't get up and say than you to somebody. you know, it's an incredible -- i've got this house and a couple of other houses quite like it so it's phenomenal. you know, it's my dream came true. when i went into the business i thought, well, a couple of quid the next couple of months it's be happy but 40 odd years later -- >> america's been a great friend to you. >> oh, man, it really has. >> tell me about your thoughts on america. >> well, as far as i go, they've been a very loyal crowd. you know, they've -- ups and downs with record sales but as far as concert ticks it's been quite regular. you know. >> how much time do you spend here. >> most of the time. i'm a tax exile. i left in 197 afrom great britain so i'm here for six months of the year. >> do you like it here. >> i do. yeah, i do. most british people unless they've spent some time here dent seem to like it. find it an unfriendly place but most of my mates here are british. more british people here than anywhereout side the uk. >> what do you miss about back home? >> i suppose i miss the british cynicism and humor. i catch up with the football. i watch as much football here as i can, but my brothers still live there. my sister lives there. i miss the family side of it but we go back and forwards probably six, seven times a year. >> i suppose the obvious place to start with you, rod, as with all interviews with you would be women. >> go ahead. >> you've had a sort of lifetime pursuit of glamourous women. would you plead guilty to that? >> that's a very dangerous question. you know, i have enjoyed, you know, to this day i don't see what women have seen in me. >> we're all baffled. >> me especially. i see myself in the morning when i get up. it's a shambles but i've enjoyed it. i don't boast about it like some others do. i've bedded a few but i've never kept count. >> can you remember the names of every woman you've taken to bed. >> no, no, absolutely impossible, no, and i wouldn't -- even if i did i wouldn't tell you. i'm a gentleman. >> but aren't you guilty you can't remember. >> i'm getting a bit now in years now. the ones -- you know, the ones i've been in love with or i thought i've loved i can remember. >> what is the perfect rod stewart woman? >> i'm married to her. >> obviously. >> i did say that didn't i. >> a leggy blond. >> yeah, a leggy blonde with some intelligence and some warmth who understands me with some humor. >> i mean, i hate to accuse of prejudice but there is a pattern to your work with women. i mean they don't seem to be many brunettes or particularly redheads. >> well, there's been -- that's another dangerous question on this very dangerous show. there's been a few but it probably has been mostly blonds. >> why blonds. >> people ask me that and all i can put it down to is pie infatuation with marilyn monroe when i was younger and print bardot because when i was a kid preteens and going into teens, they were the two blond idols, you know, brigitte bardot and marilyn monroe. >> you have just turned 66 when this interview airs and you're going to be a father again. i mean, good work, fella. >> yeah, it's good. you know, took a bit of time. >> how do you feel about being a dad again? i don't want to be difficult here but when you're 84, your son will be 18 if my math is right. >> you're right and i'm hoping that it's a boy and he's not going to be too difficult. otherwise -- well, you know, i consider meself a very fit 65-year-old. i'm just going to have to be a very fit 85-year-old. >> does it worry you though? >> no. >> that potential age gap. >> not nothing worries me. do i look worried. >> you don't look massively encumbered by stress of life i must say. you look content. >> very content. very good place, piers. >> you went through as you entered a difficult time with this baby. tell me about that. >> this was a third time we tried it and when it does go wrong it's absolutely heartbreaking but more so for penny. this was the third time. we had a wonderful english surgeon did it for us and it's worked out but it is funny, you know, putting the sperm in a bowl and in the fryer and down the doctor's. it knocks me out. s best part of doing it. >> do you have to try the ferrari in a certain speed. >> we have to -- you have to keep the sperm in the bottle in the handbag on the driver's seat or the passenger's seat. it's tremendous. i shall miss doing that. >> it was quite -- i mean it's been a difficult ride for both you and penny. you said third time around. >> yeah. >> how hard when you thought perhaps it may never work. >> i think we were more or less resigned to the fact that if it doesn't work we've got one wonderful son with aylastair an i've been fortunate with eight children so i wouldn't have complained but i really felt for her because she wanted a partner for aylaster and she got it. >> where were you when you heard the good news? >> i was at the kremlin doing a show in russia, moscow, and penny phoned me up and says we've done it, we've done it we've done it's we just both burst into tears. i'm such a fairy when it comes to things like that cried me eyes out. in moscow. >> pretty special moment. >> it really was. couldn't wait to get home and give her a big hug. >> are you a good dad, do you think? >> aye-yie-yie, you should ask me kids, i think i've become a good father. you know it's something that you don't learn at school. i don't think you do anyway. there's no books written on it or there wasn't when i became a father for the first time. but, you know, it's a craft that you improve on. i think i'm a pretty good dad now. >> what have you learned that perhaps you didn't know when you were younger? s>> the fine line between spoiling a child and depriving has always been difficult for me because i've come from a working class background and now you know wonderful wealth so it's hard for me not to spoil them and it's difficult -- i find it very difficult. it's a gray area so -- >> do you spoim them, do you think? >> no, i don't think so. i really don't think so. >> what about discipline? when your kids, they're getting older themselves now and coming out of teens and stuff, some of them. when they misbehave because they're your child and they obviously got the same gene, they get caught being naughty it gets the media attention that perhaps they feel they don't deserve like my kids, come on, why am i getting this? how do you deal with that price of fame for your kids. >> well, it's a double-edged sword. you know, it's fame has -- they live very well. they're never sure of anything but on the other side of it i know all of them when they went to school went through some embarrassing terrible times, you know, being mocked and things like that, but, you know, as i said they live comfortably, they've got -- i give them an allowance which is not too much and i think they're fine. >> you said that you've got eight children. there was a period where you were reluctant to admit to one of them. sarah who is the girl that you gave up for adoption. >> yeah if but i think that's had a happy ending, hasn't it. >> happy ending. >> happier. >> well, we didn't -- her parents just recently passed on, you know, obviously i'm the biological father and i'm still here so the relationship broke down somewhat, you know, because she was -- she was a bit awkward big chip on her shoulder which i can't blame her but in the last couple of years we've become somewhat close somewhat close. i still find it difficult to, you know when i e-mail her to sign it dad because i didn't see her grow up. i didn't change nappy, i didn't take her to school. i didn't help her do her homework but maybe i'll get around to that. >> do you regret it, feel guilty. >> yeah, i feel guilty about everything. i carry lots of guilt but we're making inroads. that's all i can tell you. >> coming up rod stewart's wild nights of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. i heard that your favorite thing, the pair of you, you like to just co-he occasionally get very truck and throw everything out of your hotel room. ♪ if you really need me just let me know ♪ and we've got cars like that, even trucks. but we can do more. when you buy a chevrolet, we'll invest in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and tree-planting programs across america, reducing carbon emissions by up to 8 million metric tons over the next few years in just one more way, we can proudly say, chevy runs deep. ♪ it takes knowing we have our work cut out for us. but if you run before the wind you can't take off. you've got to turn into it. the thing you push against lifts you up. so, every challenge is a chance to show that even in this crazy world of no liquids and route cancellations someone still has the passenger's back. and along the way we'll prove we're not just building a bigger airline we're building a better one. >> announcer: this past year alone there's been a 67% spike in companies embracing the cloud-- big clouds, small ones, public, private, even hybrid. your data and apps must move easily and securely to reach many clouds, not just one. that's why the network that connects, protects, and lets your data move fearlessly through the clouds means more than ever. big deal is on a mission for priceline. uncovering hotel freebies like instant discounts, free-nights... ...and free breakfast at hotels in virtually every city. so, thanks to this large man in a little jetpack... you can search thousands of hotel freebies... right now only at priceline. ♪ if you want my body and you think i'm sexy ♪ >> i want to ask you because unless i'm mistaken, that woman and i use the word woman advi d advisedly bearings striking resemblance to rod stewart. >> i found this painting in a shop in new york about ten years ago and it looks like me exactly like me when i was 17. >> it's identical. >> it is because in those days i had a trait nose. i broke me nose playing soccer so i've got to have this painting. >> when your dad bought you your first guitar, it said that you actually would have preferred a nice train because you were so obsessed with model trains. >> still am. >> you've got a set here. like an amazing room. >> not a set. >> what do you train weirdos call it. >> we're not weirdos. we're just you got to understand we'll get back to that question because it's a dangerous question and this is a dangerous show to be on. >> you see, i told you. >> where were we? >> train sets. your dad bought you your first guitar. >> for some reason i had no musical inclination. i used to avoid singing lessons and, you know, singing class but i mean dad just went out and bought me a guitar, i was 14 or 15, just about the sometime skipfle music was coming in. probably as as a scotsman he thought there would be somemoney in it. i went to a railway station. >> where was the -- >> never you mind. >> no one has seen it. >> it's been in magazines. >> no one has filmed it. >> $250,000 to become a member of the model railroad society of beverly hills. >> seriously. >> no. >> so we can't see it then. >> no, no, no it's really private. but -- >> what does it bring you though when you go that that room. >> like any hobby. it's just brilliant. if -- i don't get stressed but if i get a little stress i go [ bleep ] it. i'm going upstairs, spend a couple of hour, get permission from penny to disappear to the third floor and just work on my hobby. >> the size of this room. >> it's the length of this house. >> wow! >> yeah, it's massive. maybe i'll take you up, you know, as a private guest. >> thank you. >> i'll have to phone the other members and see if it's okay. >> how many trains do you have. >> it's not a question of trains. people still watching this? >> yes. >> it's a question of scale and detail. you know, base my layout on the 1940s new york central and pennsylvania line, you know, and it's -- >> wow. >> it's -- well, i'll take you up there. >> obviously you love it. it's i passion. >> love it, pan i really do and take it everywhere with me. >> do you like being the driver or -- >> don't take a -- i don't wear a little hat. no, it's a lovely hobby. it's like reading a book or painting a picture. it's three-dimensional. you know, it's wonderful. >> can you remember your first performance? >> singing? >> yes. we'll come to the other one later. >> yeah, i can. yeah, yeah, i can. like it was yesterday. >> talk to me about that experience. >> well, it was in manchester, a place called the twisted wheel. i was 19. it was in a band with long onball dry. he asked me to be the singer and open up a show for him and long john for those that don't know was instrumental in bringing rhythm and blues to great britain. bless him. he's gone now but i got up on stage and i was a bit nervous so one of the guys gave me what you call a little pill, a black bomber. i must have been awake for three days. >> illegal drug. >> i didn't know it was illegal. he was a responsible grown-up. i was a mere lad of 19 and i must -- i made one song last for about a half hour. they ought to get me off the stage. >> did you love that instant chemistry with an audience, the reaction you got. >> i didn't get any reaction at all. they were all busy drinking. it was what we call an all-nighter in those days, you know, bit too young to remember those day. >> thanks. >> it was at the bar. no one was really watching me but that was the first. >> what was the moment when you thought, i want to be a rock star? >> oh, man, probably when i saw mick and the stones over at ill pie island. place in twikham where they used to play. hundred people in the audience and i saw mick jump about and i was having a beer and i thought i can do that. >> watching mick jagger. >> i was watching the rolling stones. >> but essentially you're watching jagger thinking being the front man of a rock band is the coolist life gets. >> absolutely. >> what did you hope being a rock tar would bring you? >> a sports car. that's all i wanted. you know, when i joined the band i was earning will $60 a week which back in those days early '60s was a lost money so i wanted a sports car so i could go out and pull the bird, the girl, that's what i wanted and here we are. >> here you are with the lamborghini and ferrari and the birds. >> just the one. >> the one bird. the chief bird. >> yeah. >> obviously the first band you played with jeff beck and these guy, amazing musician, ronnie wood came on the scene. you had some amazingly talented people around you. but very quickly, you emerged as a front man then went solo and became this huge star. that trance for pace possess, was there a point when you thought i've got to do this on my own? >> no, when i was with the faces i wanted to stay with the faces, but i had a feeling that mick wanted wod di and the stones although he said face to face to me he said i'll never steal ronnie from the stones. i think ronnie was made to be a rolling stone and maybe we'd taken the band as far as we could. and it was a wonderful five or six year, drunkenness and silliness. >> how good is that? see for someone like me that's yearned to be a rock star and never really come closer than judging a piano playing pig and i'm getting a few titters from the crowd. >> you do a good job. >> i would have loved to walk out it a stadium of 80,000 women and have them delay their knickers at me. >> not so many knickers but it's wonderful. you don't -- there's no drug like it. i mean the adrenaline that comes and the love that comes back from a packed house. it really is remarkable. but the thing is in the faces days we really were very drunk. >> how wild was it. talk me through a wild night with the faces, by you and mr. wood. >> well, we'd drink and drug before the show, not terribly, you know, but we used to drink a lot. not too many drugs were too expensive but we'd, you know, me and woody would dangle a holiday key in front of the girls and have room 197 and i'd have room 200 and that's all you have to do and they'd all be back at the hotel. >> i heard the favorite thing the pair of you like to occasionally get very drunk and throw everything out of your hotel room. >> yeah, yeah. >> the entire room. >> especially with, you know, if there was a new member of the group, moving on we thought that was the initiation thing, go to his room, put the key in the door, not a stitch of furniture, no lightbulbs nothing it was even better if that particular person had pulled a girl and -- >> where would all this stuff go. >> i don't know. >> out a window. >> no, we'd put it in the elevator and sent it to the lobby. never threw it out the window. we were cheap. send it down the lobby. >> who was the loudest rockers you came up against, anyone that matched you and woody. >> there was the who. i think they came before us. they were pretty wild. just as we were becoming famous hotels were beginning to know about us and we would book in as fleetwood mac which brings me round to the tour i'll do with stevie nicks but checked in as float wood mack to let them take the blame. >> you rack up a $0,000 bill and it would go to fleetwood mac. >> they weren't particularly famous and neither were we so no one knew the difference. >> i'll talk to ron about the one woman who broke his heart. >> it was a good six months of, you know, laying up stairs looking at the ceiling in bed, couldn't get out of bed, depression. ♪ ♪ stay inside? nah. not when you have a five-star overall vehicle score for safety. one more reason chevy traverse delivers more. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. ♪ wake up maggie i think i got something to say to you ♪ ♪ it's late september and i really should be back at school ♪ ♪ i know i keep you amused but i feel i'm being used ♪ >> your life really i guess changed forever in the '70s when you had the big hits. you looked pretty much like you do now. but when that happened when it just exploded, who was that time like for you because that was stats to fearic, wasn't it. >> number one single both sides of the atlantic. i think susan boyle has just done it again but -- >> what do you think of that? what do you think of a reality star -- >> it's wonderful she's scottish and humble and she can sing. it's a wonderful piece of tv where you guys are sitting in the audience and you're just gob smacked. it's tremendous. >> some people say those kind of talent shows, that they're not really producing proper stars, haven't gone through treading the boars you have to do to justify being a star. what do you think of ha. >> no, that's bullocks. i have seen too many friends of mine i've got amazing talent get lost and left behind. this is a tremendous vehicle for people that have got talent. i do think, you know, it helps to tread the boars a little bit and learn your craft, but, you know, if i would have had the opportunity when i was a kid i would have taken it. i 0 have gone into the pub for a couple of hours get a bit of dutch courage. >> when you watch susan boyle, she's scottish obviously like you can you imagine doing a duet with her. >> yeah, yeah, love to. >> had do you think of her voice. >> i think it's beautiful. wonderful pitch. it's soulful, it's got every quality. by the way i'm not to theish. get it straighted with viewers. my father was scottish. >> you pretend to be scott i shall. >> no, i don't. >> you'll a celtic football player and go a long way in trying to pretend tartan -- >> i'm not scottish. i'm proud of my to theishness and heritage and, you know, scotland is a spiritual home for me. so there. >> you got a bit of a backlash in the '70s. which i guess always comes with huge fame. how did you deal with the first negativity that came your way? >> oh, another dangerous question. i can't stand them. this room is going to explode in a minute. i think in those days it hurt, you know, it doesn't anymore. it's water off a duck's back. in the days do you think i'm sexy era. >> why did they go after you. >> because i mean look at me. you know, i was put in the birds and the silly outfits and wasn't -- i wasn't what they considered to be a rock star. >> the obvious question, do you think you're sexy? >> no, we talked about that earlier. i've seen meself in the moment. i don't know what it's all about. i swear to god i've got a certain charm. what do you think, guys? certain -- >> all the ladies are going thumbs up. very disloyal. that's my staff. what is the seek, what's the rod stewart magic with women. >> i don't know. >> i have ee seen women behave in the most ridiculous manner like wobbly jelly. >> hard for me to say because i'm not a standard good looking guy. i'm not, you know -- that's a boy but i think i've got -- you know i've been out with women that have been playboy center spreads and absolutely gorgeous feature but no sex appeal. you know, so maybe -- >> what to you is sexy. >> it's an inner thing, it's a look in the eye. it's almost a slight get me right slight sluttiness. get me right here. it's a dangerous answer that was. >> it is a dangerous answer. what is a slight slutiness. >> a short skirt, a little bit shorter than it should be, a glimpse of stocking maybe. >> you've been married three times. always to blonds we've discussed this. there is a pattern to your work but your first wife alana, you weren't faithful to her, were you or were you? >> no. no. no, i wasn't. >> do you regret that. >> of course, i do. i don't ike to lie to anybody. i was a little spunky lad. i shouldn't have got married. my dad told me, i was 35 and i got married. he said you're too young to married. what, i'm 35. you're far too young. you haven't lived yet. he was right, bless him, thanks dad. >> if you had that time again what age would you get married. >> i don't think you put an age on it. i think when it feels right. when you've done all the shagging you want to do and it's time to grow up. i know mates of mine in their 40s still shagging about and not grown up so i think when you decide that you can be loyal and faithful and committed and this is it like i have now, you know, but i was loyal and faithful to my second wyche rachel and didn't mess about. >> and the irony there was after years of being a naughty boy actually with rachel she ended up leaving you which was a very hurtful thing. >> it certainly was, yes, very huttful. i wasn't -- i wasn't prepared for it. i didn't have the tools to deal with it. >> why do you think it didn't work out when you look back. >> she was too young. she was too young. me sister when we got married lent over to me brother going down the aisle and said, you know she's going to leave him, don't you. >> really. >> me sister mary, told me brother. and sure enough she did. >> why did she think that. >> i think because my sister mary understands that women do a lot of growing between 21 and 30, you know, which rachel probably has. she's not the woman that i married 20 years ago. >> did it break your heart, do you hi. >> oh, yeah, bloody hell did it. >> properly like -- >> yeah, yeah. >> after all those years, of you probably breaking women's heart whether deliberately or -- did you feel that a bit. wow, this is what it feels like go a good six months of, you know, laying upstairs looking at the ceiling in bed, couldn't get out of bed, depression, didn't drink for six month, that's how bad it was. >> did not. >> didn't drink for six months. >> you must be terrible. >> terrible, exactly because i like a glass of wine every evening, just one or two and that's it. >> proper heartbreak. >> yeah, yeah if how did you get over it? >> well, there's no way of getting over it. there's no way round it. there's no way through it. you know, i went to therapist, you know, and it just -- nothing, nothing works. you know. >> something works because you came through it. >> time. >> you believe that time is -- >> yeah, yeah, yeah, time. >> you say you've learned lessons from that experience too. what were the lessons do you think for you as a guy, as a husband, you know, obviously now with penny you're incredibly happy but what were the lessons you had to learn from that not working that second marriage. >> probably, you know i'm a better listener than i've ever been before. i listen more. and i say i love you a lot more than i used to. >> do you? >> yeah, i used to say it but now i'm all heifer like a dirty rag, penny, love you darling, i love you pussycat. >> you've gone soft. >> nothing wrong with being soft. >> you're touch with your feminine side. >> still butch playing football sunday. >> so you're a butch football playing softy. >> absolutely right. >> when we come back, rod stewart's rocky road to true love. >> it was hard for her coming into this family with all the kids. they were weary. they didn't want dad to get hurt again. ♪ i was driving in northern california. my son was asleep. i really didn't see it coming. i didn't realize i was drifting into the other lane. 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[ male announcer ] wells fargo. together we'll go far. ♪ >> when i first met rod i realized that it wasn't going to be your regular relationship. ♪ firmly believe that i >> my dream was always to have a child. ♪ didn't need anyone but me >> to see rod's flock made me want to have a family with him even more so. ♪ so remember every picture tells a story don't it ♪ ♪ every -- >> let me take you to the moment you first saw penny. >> all right. >> extraordinarily strikingly beautiful woman. congratulations. but the first moment you saw her, what did you think? >> well, it was at the dorchester hotel and i literally just broken up with rachel. i mean within the last 24 hours it was in the newspapers and i walked in and there she was and she was dancing and she's really an extraordinary dancer, you know, she's 6'1" and in high heel, everything i wanted, you know, so we got to talking and i said, you know, she knew who i was. she had sent someone over to get my autograph and her invited her to al's court where we do concerts in london to take a few photographs. had me eye on that. that old trick. >> come and take my picture. >> come and take me picture darling. i didn't see her for another six months. the bass player in my band said she's too good for you, rod. you are going to wait six months for your heart to finish breaking and i'll give you her phone number. >> good advice. after six months. >> i phoned her up and boyfriend answered or a man answered phone and i thought mick was a woman so i just phoned back and she answered and we made a date. as it was she was breaking up with her boyfriend anyway so i came to her rescue. >> how long was it before you realized you were in love with henne. >> it wasn't immediate. it's -- because i was still hurting a bit. you know, i didn't want anything to do with women. never going to get married again. don't want nothing to do with it. but i think after about six or seven months we began to fall in love. >> are you as happy now as you've ever benghazi. >> yeah, without a doubt. >> what is it about penny? how is she wouldn't say tamed the wild man. you're not really like that and haven't been for a long "time" but what is it about her that gave you contentment do you think? >> she's naughty. she's sort of naughty in a lovely schoolgirl way if you know what i mean. >> i think i do, yes. >> you know what i mean but apart from that we have wonderful sex, she's just thoughtful. >> you still can at your age. >> oh, yeah, don't you worry about that, mate. she's very thoughtful. very loving and very caring. it was hard for her coming into this family with all the kids, terp weary, they didn't want dad to get hurt again but one by one she sort of won them all over and the girls come to her for advice now. so -- >> do you think this is it? do you think she's the one. >> beyond a doubt. beyond a doubt. >> coming up the moment when rod stewart's career nearly ended. one of the world's greatest singers and just been told in if this goes wrong you may never sing again. ♪ [ male announcer ] lately, there's been a lot of talk about fuel efficiency, hybrids, and plug-in vehicles. and we've got cars like that, even trucks. but we can do more. when you buy a chevrolet, we'll invest in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and tree-planting programs across america, reducing carbon emissions by up to 8 million metric tons over the next few years in just one more way, we can proudly say, chevy runs deep. ♪ male announcer: be kind to your eyes with transitions lenses. transitions adapt to changing light so you see a whole day comfortably and conveniently while protecting your eyes from the sun. ask your eyecare professional which transitions lenses are right for you. female announcer: thanks to the eyeglass guide, it's never been easier to find the right pair of eyeglasses. check out eyeglassguide.com today, brought to you by transitions. breaking news on "360." president obama has signed off on cia involvement in the ground in libya according to reports, intelligence gathering sources say intelligence gathering operations are already under way. we'll speak with former cia officer bob bare and former defense secretary paul wolfowitz about what role the cia can and should play. other breaking news. a gadhafi insider calling it quits. moussa koussa has fled tripoli. now shows up in england. talk to cnn's nic robertson and fran townsend about why the insider's abrupt defection is such a blow to the gadhafi regime plus troubling news out of japan. new radiation spikes in a town well outside the evacuation zone and disturbing new details on conditions the heroic workers at the plant are dealing with it. eating crackers, little, food, little sleep. not the right kind of protect tiff equipment. shocking stuff. try to figure out why it is happening. dr. sanjay gupta joins us. now back to piers morgan. but my doctor told me that during that time my high cholesterol was contributing to plaque buildup in my arteries. that's why i'm fighting my cholesterol... with crestor. along with diet, crestor does more than help manage cholesterol, when diet and exercise alone aren't enough. crestor is also proven to slow plaque buildup in arteries. crestor is not right for everyone, like people with liver disease, or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. simple blood tests will check for liver problems. tell your doctor about other medicines you are taking, or if you have muscle pain or weakness. that could be a sign of serious side effects. ask your doctor if crestor is right for you. i love it when we're here together. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. ♪ today is saturday announcer: 60 minutes of physical activity a day and eating well can help get your child healthy. get ideas. get involved. get going at letsmove.gov. that's letsmove.gov. when rod went to the doctor's and had a scan and they discovered a small cancerous growth on his thyroid, the first thing rod did was kept it to himself. i might not be able to sing. it must have been the most scariest scariest moment. i just can't imagine. >> it was thyroid cancer. i went for a regular checkup and, you know, they said, you better come back, that phone call, better come back. there's something going on. >> when you got that call what were you thinking? >> didn't even think it could be cancer. not me, rod stewart. i'm fit. i work out. you know, but sure enough it was a little growth they think they should cut out and i was in and out of hospital in 24 hours, so when people say, oh, you battled cancer, you know, i didn't. i was dead lucky. >> but did you get a sense then of your own mortality for the first time. >> yeah, yeah. >> did you think to yourself, i could die here. >> yeah, yeah, i didn't -- no, i didn't when i went into the surgery but afterwards, the surgeon told me how delicate the operation was, you know, he says if there had been an earthquake when i was operating on your throat he said one little slip and you wouldn't have spoken again because the nerve and the thyroid is so close together. >> wow. >> so, yeah, it did bring me down to earth. you know, i kept thinking what am i going to do? i can't sing. >> what goes through your -- i mean you're one of the world's great singers and you've just been told if this goes wrong, you may never sing again. >> some people would have been pleased. >> i can think of a few. hallelujah! what was going through your mind seriously? >> i was frightened, really scared and all sores of thoughts were going through my mind, you know, of becoming a landscape gardener. i had no interest in gardens what soever. maybe i'll start a landscape gardening firm. mad. but i went to -- i had some singing coaches give me some advice, but in the end, it was getting the band together in the garage and just singing every day one minute i could sing for maybe two lines of maggie may, the next day four lines then i could sing a verse then the whole song. >> was there a moment when like a eureka moment when you knew you were back. >> yes, exactly six months after the operation, five or six month. >> what was the moment? >> well, i could go an hour of singings, you know, i could sing without being sore and hoarse. >> was that the greatest relief. >> certainly was, mate. nice relief. no, it was, it really was. it was wonderful. it's -- it brought me down to earth. >> when your-was flashing before you in that period which obviously i guess it does, if there's one moment of your entire life that you could relive again before you die, what would it be? >> outside of football? >> it can include football but for this audience -- >> it probably would be the day maggie may become number one in great britain, you know and i remember i was driving down swiss college, a place in london, i heard it on the radio. i knew we would get close to number one but it was number one, turned the are ka around, went all the way back to me mum and dad's house and was proud, give my dad a big hug. my dad was nonplussed. put the kettle on make you a cup of tea. that stuck in my mind forever, the pride on their face, you know, because they never pushed me to do anything else. they didn't say, go and get a job, this rock 'n' roll is never going to last. they were always, you know, stick at it, boy, you know, stick at it so bless them. >> did you have great ambition left or are you content now to keep rocking at the level that you are? >> well, you know, it's the business has been very kind to me, you know, the people out there have been kind, ambition, i want to stay healthy, i want to be happy and it sounds, you know cheap and -- but i do. i'm very scared of becoming unhealthy. i'm a bit paranoid about it. >> next, one of rock's original bad boys reinvents himself as an all-american crooner. ♪ and wherever i go sailing 1982, rod said he would like to do an album of the kind of songs he heard as he was growing up. ♪ >> i had as much put it away and there will come a time, maybe, when you can bring it out again. and sure enough, 18 years later, that time came. the perfect person for it was clyde davis. >> the idea associated that voice with great standards. >> went on to become the biggest selling collection of music series in history. ♪ >> the best of the great american song book, a follow up to your successful album before, which brought it back into huge vogue in america, it's extraordinary that you've had this career resurgence on great american songs? >> yeah, it is. you know, for a british boy from north london to be singing these songs of louis armstrong is remarkable. >> when you had the idea, quite a gamble for you to do that. >> yeah. first i had the idea in the '80s. but the record label at the time said you're a rock singer and we don't want you to be anything else. but when i went to my current label, they had nothing but enthusiasm for it. and it was nothing but a labor of love. i think i'm up to 20 million now. >> how long can this franchise continue? there's so many great songs you can sing. >> this is it. this is the last. this is the best of the five albums. so we move on to other things now. i want to do maybe a blues album with jeff peck or i may do a country album. >> really? >> i'm supposed to do a christmas album sometime. >> you can the a country album? >> yeah. i can sing that stuff. country music to me seems more like rock 'n' roll. they crossed over. >> and there's a tour coming. >> myself and stevie nicks are going to go out and tour. >> do you still get the same kick out of touring? >> yeah. >> is it still the one thing that is more exciting than anything else? >> well, yeah, it is. it's very hard for me to explain how it is. as i said, it really is -- >> take me out. i'm walking out the tunnel on page and there's 80,000 people, what is that like? >> i don't suffer nerves like i used to. i'm more nervous to do this interview than going out in front of an audience. >> because it's more dangerous. >> but it's anticipation, because you sort of know what you're going to get from the audience, but you're not sure they're going to react the way you want them to. sometimes when they don't react the way i want them to, that really makes me mess about. >> how do you know when you've got them? >> you can feel it. it's like an avalanche going over you. >> is that the greatest feeling? >> yeah, yeah, it is. >> is that better than sex? >> no, no, it's not that good, mate. never going to be that good. no, but it is a wonderful feeling. thank you everybody out there that's put me in that position. >> what would you like your epitaph to be? >> i'm a celebrity, get me out of here. i've finally given up smoking. >> do you have a way you would like to be remembered then? >> just as an honest guy who loved his football, just a simple man who got extremely lucky, extremely lucky. >> if your parents could be sitting now watching this, what do you think they would have thought? >> well, you know, they saw me break through in the early '70s. i had a massive house in engl d england. >> they would be proud of you as a man, do you think, the way you've evolved? >> yeah, they would, i'm sure. i think i would go around turning all the lights out to save electricity. >> you have got a little bit of a reputation, rod, as being -- >> it's not true. it's not true. i'm very careful with money. i'm not very trusting with accountants and lawyers and the like. you got guys like madoff and people have got turned over in this business. i was turned over for considerable amounts of money and it makes you not trusting. >> you've lost lots of money? >> yeah, i got swindled by not keeping an eye on the books. >> do you know how much you're worth? >> sort of. it's inflation and current market terms. >> i've read $100 million to $500 million. >> that's disgusting. we can't talk about that. that's a dangerous question. >> is this the most dangerous interview? >> it's bordering on it. i don't know, i really don't know. i don't want to retire. that is one dread i have in life, when this finally ends. like most people in entertainment. >> does it have to end? you're singing great standards now, do you ever have to end? sinatra is still going in his 80s. is there a moment that your pride would say to you, enough? >> no. i would imagine, you know, if my hair fell out. >> what would be the worst thing for you? >> bald. i don't know how i would hope with that. >> your hair is extraordinary. how do you keep it in such splendor. >> it gets cut every couple of weeks. that's very important. >> is it a hedge trim. >> now, now, we've done a nice interview so far. i wash it every other day, put it in oils. >> would you say you're vain? >> yeah. >> i was admiring your mirror. >> no more than any other guy. >> last question. i've been saving this, because it is a dangerous one and i'm not sure how you're going to react to this. it's whether you're still wearing women's underwear? >> no, not today i'm not. that's something i was doing when i was going out with a woman, a wonderful movie star. she doesn't speak too highly of me. >> what period of time were you wearing women's underwear? >> just