Rod Stewart's record breaking hope after health issues force him to cancel gigs

Sir Rod Stewart is set to take to the Legend stage at Glastonbury next weekend despite a run of recent health setbacks. The Maggie May icon, 80, caused concern amongst his fans last week when he was forced to cancel a run of gigs due to illness, throwing his much-anticipated set at the iconic UK festival into doubt.

Rod axed six shows, four of which were in Nevada including two at Caesars Palace, as well as two in California. Sir Rod took to Instagram to say he was under 'strict doctor's orders' to rest his voice as he apologised for having to reschedule. He added: "I have to cancel and reschedule my next six concerts in June as I continue to recover from the flu.

"So sorry my friends. I'm devastated and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience to my fans. I'll be back on stage and will see you soon."

But anyone who has tickets for Glastonbury and is worried they might not see the legend in action in his Sunday, June 29 slot should be rest assured the megastar is at the top of his game when it comes to health and fitness, despite his recent issues with the flu, and he's even hoping to break a world-record for sprinting soon.

The Celtic-daft star has got a race track in the garden of his Essex home and has been practicing furiously. He told AARP magazine: "I got it [his 100m time] down to 19 seconds by learning how to push off. I'm going to try and do 17 seconds, which I think is a world record for an 80 year old."

Rod says he likes to keep himself in shape, and revealed he's worked with the same personal trainer for the past 38 years. He added: "I keep myself very fit, I played soccer all my life – don't so much anymore, because I had a knee replacement. And I've always had a trainer – same guy for 38 years. I have an indoor pool, massive gym, golf course, everything."

Rod also revealed that he is inspired by another legendary crooner when it comes to his strict fitness regime - the late Frank Sinatra.

He said: "We do a lot of underwater training, where the trainer throws a brick into the pool and I have to dive in, push the brick to the end of the pool, and come up. Frank Sinatra once said to me 'Rod, the secret to being a great singer is having powerful lungs. Do lots of underwater swimming, where you hold your breath'."

The dad of eight recently announced that he will reunite with his former Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood for his Glastonbury gig, and he expressed some dissatisfaction at the allocated length of his set - showing he's more than ready to put on a great show for the crowds.

Speaking on the That Peter Crouch Podcast, he told the former footballer he was only due to play for an hour and a quarter on the Pyramid Stage.

"I've asked them 'Please, another 15 minutes' because I play for over two hours every night and it's nothing," he said.