Rod Stewart appeared to struggle onstage Saturday, bending over visibly unwell before using an oxygen tank to help him continue the performance.
The incident came just a week after the 81-year-old called off a California concert as fans were queuing to get inside, explaining that a respiratory infection had worsened into laryngitis.
Yet within 24 hours of that cancellation, Stewart reportedly boarded a private flight to Boston with two of his sons to watch Scotland play Haiti in a FIFA World Cup match.
The trip sparked a backlash from some fans online, including one Instagram user who wrote: ‘This feels rather disingenuous, especially after your cancellation last night. Too ill to perform but okay to fly across the country for soccer?’
On Saturday, Stewart returned to the stage in Salt Lake City, but partway through the concert he signaled to his team that he needed an oxygen tank brought out.
After the device arrived, he took several pulls from it and told the crowd he had ‘nearly f***ing fainted,’ according to footage obtained by TMZ.
Rod Stewart appeared to be in distress onstage Saturday and used an oxygen tank during the concert; pictured last month in Phoenix
The veteran music star is currently performing the North American leg of his One Last Time farewell tour, which began in 2024; pictured in April in New Orleans
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While he was using the oxygen tank, the audience whooped supportively and one member of the crowd could be heard shouting: ‘Take a break!’
However, once he was finished taking his air, he turned to the audience and rasped: ‘The show must go on,’ to an explosion of applause.
The Rhythm of My Heart hitmaker then confessed he had almost ‘fainted’ during the previous song, asking the audience: ‘Would you mind if I sat down for this number?’
Stewart took his seat on one of the steps leading up to the bandstand before proceeding with his concert, which was held at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre in the Salt Lake City suburb West Valley.
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His canceled show was meant to take place last Friday, June 11 at the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, a suburb of San Diego.
That day, with fans already gathering outside the stadium, his team ‘very regretfully’ announced on social media that the concert had been scrapped.
‘He traveled to the venue and made every effort to perform, but on the advice of his doctors and following a diagnosis of an acute upper respiratory infection that has resulted in laryngitis, he is unable to take to the stage this evening.’
Stewart issued his own statement on his Instagram page, along with a photo of him standing onstage in the vacant amphitheater.
On Friday, June 11, he canceled a show in the San Diego suburbs due to ill health and posted an Instagram apology along with a photo of himself onstage in the vacant amphitheater
‘Well here I am in beautiful Chula Vista as the stage is being taken down around me,’ he wrote. ‘Following treatment, I’m feeling much better, but my voice is not.’
Apologizing for his absence, he insisted he ‘did everything I could to make the show happen tonight’ and promised he would ‘do my utmost to reschedule.’
Less than one day later, he posted an Instagram video of him and his sons Alastair, 20, and Liam, 31, lounging on a private jet bound for Boston.
Later that day, he was seen cheering among the live audience as Scotland triumphed in its first game of the World Cup, beating Haiti with a score of 1-0.
The I Don’t Want to Talk About It singer was met with a withering online response over what fans regarded as a ‘disingenuous’ about-face.
Less than 24 hours later, however, he flew private to Boston with his son Alastair, 20, and Liam, 31, in tow to attend the FIFA World Cup match between Scotland and Haiti
‘I understand that shows sometimes have to be canceled, and if there was a legitimate reason, most fans would have accepted it,’ wrote one. ‘What’s hard to accept is seeing you apparently celebrating on a plane with friends less than 24 hours after thousands of people were sent home disappointed in San Diego.’
‘I love Rod Stewart I always have I always will. This is the only thing I’ve ever disagreed with that he’s done,’ another shared.
‘People are so hurt all through this thread and it’s understandable. I am so sorry to all of you in San Diego that were heartbroken and then have to see this video. In my opinion he should not have posted this video.’
The octogenarian musical legend is currently on the North American leg of his farewell tour One Last Time, which he launched in 2024.
‘I’ve got 40-odd shows this year and that’s not really a lot,’ he remarked last month during an interview on the British radio program TalkSport. ‘And I’m touring the UK next year and doing the O2 and that will probably be it, I think.’
