Rod Stewart’s reunion with daughter he gave up

By STEPHEN MCGINTY
Published on 21/03/2013 22:57

ROD Stewart has been reunited with his daughter who was given up for adoption and sealed their new relationship with a song.

The singer said that he has dedicated a song on his new album to Sarah Streeter, now 50, and her mother, Susannah Boffey, an art student with whom he had a year-long relationship in the 1960s.

“We’ve just begun to call each other ‘father and daughter’. It was hard work because I didn’t change her nappies or take her to school or help her do her homework,” he said in an interview.

Stewart was an 18-year-old unknown singer when his girlfriend became pregnant. However, the child was put up for adoption after six months.

Sarah did not know the identity of her father until she was 18 years old. They struggled for decades to build a relationship.

However, an attempted reconciliation during the 1980s collapsed. At one point the rock singer, when questioned about his children, said: “You can count her if you want. I try not to.”

But six years ago, following the death of her adopted mother, she and her father started to become closer.

The singer has now dedicated a song to both his daughter and her mother on his new album, Time, which is the first record in 22 years that he has written himself.

He said: “It’s called Brighton Beach and it’s about a real girl who broke my heart – my first love affair. Her name was Sue Boffey. She was the mother of my first child, who was adopted, because we didn’t have a pot to p*** in. It was a real blot on your character to get a girl pregnant in those days.”

The singer, who went on to have a further seven children with four women, said: “I know a little bit about divorce and the devastation it causes everyone involved, including children. The heartbreak for your kids is what does me in. I’ve gone through it and it’s painful.”

He is now happily married to his third wife, Penny Lancaster, a model and photographer who shot the album cover.

Stewart said: “Penny is an angel. I love her to death, she really has been an inspiration and protection. My Berlin Wall. We have a lot of fun. I’m wiser now.

“To be in a successful relationship you have to listen, which I never used to do, and commit to it. That’s difficult when you’ve got women throwing themselves at you. It was hard in those days.”

In the interview, Stewart, a famous member of the Tartan Army, said he keeps fit by playing in a football league in Los Angeles.

He said: “I play in an over-50s league and I take it very seriously. I don’t drink the night before a game.” He added: “I work out four times a week. Other than that, I drink plenty of water and I’ve never smoked, although I do enjoy the odd glass of wine.”

Stewart is now developing plans for his next album which will be a reunion of the Faces, the 1960s band in which he began his career with Ronnie Wood, now of The Rolling Stones.

He said: “The only reason it hasn’t happened is because Woody’s got another band and can’t commit. If he can say he’s free in a year’s time, I’ll say, OK, let’s do it.”