Rod: Covid caused far-from-sweet Caroline

Stewart hits back at jibe from Elvis Costello after claims his performance was below par at the palace

HE HAS built a career on his gravelly voice but, in an online spat with Elvis Costello, Sir Rod Stewart has blamed Covid for his “rough” singing at the Platinum Jubilee concert.

The 77-year-old rocker performed a cover of Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline that had thousands singing along outside Buckingham Palace, including a thrilled Prince George and his father, the Duke of Cambridge.

But Costello told fans during a concert in Glasgow that he thought the event was “s---” and criticised Sir Rod’s choice of song.

The Englishman told the Scots crowd: “I mean, I know you all love him and he’s one of yours and everything, but Rod. What the f---?

“I must say, listen we all have bad nights vocally, but Sweet f---ing Caroline? Are you f---ing kidding me?”

He added: “I mean I’ve been in showbusiness 45 years so I do know a thing or two. How is it that nobody suggested Rod sing You Wear It Well?”

Sir Rod took to Twitter to hit back at Costello’s critique on Sunday night and unleashed his own quip about the 67-year-old’s vanishing hairline.

“Yes, my voice was rough [because]

Show off after Jagger gets virus

of Covid. I apologise… I thought it better it to make an appearance rather than let everyone down so sorry”, the singer wrote. He signed off his tweet with his own barb: “By the way, where’s your hair gone mate?”

Costello replied: “Dear Lord Stewart. You know I love you. Think the Queen would have loved You Wear It Well or even Hot Legs... As to gigs, I had a stinker the other night in Liverpool.

“They come and go, like hair, which I keep sewn in my hat.”

Sir Rod has said the BBC “made” him sing Sweet Caroline at the Jubilee.

Before starting, he told the crowds outside Buckingham Palace: “The BBC made me sing this one.”

He then urged those present to “join in, make it comfortable for me” before starting to sing. The audience, however, appeared delighted with Sir Rod’s performance, Covid-affected or not, and the young Prince George and his father, Prince William, could be seen singing along and waving Union flags.

Penny Lancaster, Sir Rod’s wife of 15 years, revealed last week that the rocker’s appearance was “very touch and go’.

“He lost his voice, so [for] the sound check – on the Wednesday, he went along and [as a] precaution, he wore a mask, but had no voice,” she said on ITV show Loose Women.

Sir Rod had been singing in Las Vegas for three weeks and contracted the virus just after his last show. He returned to the UK and isolated for 10 days but did not get his voice back in time for the big night.