Rod Stewart, the iconic British singer-songwriter behind many tracks that defined the late 20th century including his hit 'Maggie May', lives just as busy a life away from the stage as he does on it.
The 81-year-old is a doting father to eight children, whom he shares with five mothers: Sarah, 60, whom he and his ex-partner Susannah Boffey put up for adoption when they were teens; Kimberly, 46, and Sean, 45, with his first wife, Alana Stewart; Ruby, 38, with his ex Kelly Emberg; Renee, 33, and Liam, 31, with his second wife, Rachel Hunter; and his two youngest sons, Alastair, 20, and Aiden, 14, with his current wife, Penny Lancaster.
Being a parent isn't easy, even at the best of times, and it comes as little surprise that Rod has run into some challenges with raising his eight children in his 60 years of being a parent.
In an interview with PEOPLE in 2021, he explained that he has to bring a different approach and parenting style to handling each one of his kids. He said: "I have to be several different fathers because of the different age groups of my kids. You really have to treat all of them as individuals with individual problems."
He then continued, giving the example of advising Alastair in his dating life, saying: "For instance, my 15-year-old is dating girls, so I had to give him a sex lesson. I just told him what he shouldn't do, but he's on top of it. He was like, 'Dad, I've got the internet. I know everything'."
Equally, he highlighted that it's especially important for him not to be too domineering or hands-on. "All the [older] kids went through their little bad period of drinking too much and dabbling in drugs – except for Liam; I don't think he ever did – but they all came out on the other side," he explained. "As a dad, I've learned to listen and not blow my top."
Rod Stewart's parenting lesson for Alastair and Aiden
The music legend doesn't often give us a glimpse into these different styles of parenting he uses with each of his children. However, Penny, in an exclusive interview with HELLO!, revealed to us that he has one specific rule in place when it comes to his two youngest sons.
Speaking to host Ateh Jewel on HELLO!'s Second Act podcast, the supermodel shared: "[Rod] will apologise to me in front of the boys as an example. And he will go, 'Boys, this is the biggest thing you can do, the man that can apologise is the truest man of all'."