Rod Stewart, 80, ‘drops expletive’ as singer left ‘flabbergasted’ by surprise during music awards: ‘I didn’t know!’
Sir Rod Stewart was left “flabbergasted” after being presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by five of his children at the 2025 American Music Awards.
The 80-year-old rock legend received the prestigious honour during Monday night’s ceremony at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Las Vegas.
In a touching surprise, his children Kimberly, 45, Sean, 44, Ruby, 37, Renee, 32, and Liam, 30, took to the stage to introduce their father.
Stewart was visibly shocked by their appearance, telling the audience: “I am absolutely flabbergasted. I didn’t know they were here – my children.”
The veteran rocker was so overwhelmed by the surprise that he dropped an expletive during his acceptance speech, which was edited out of the CBS broadcast.
“I’m so f***ing overwhelmed that you’re here,” Stewart said to his children, according to MailOnline.
The network appeared to edit the profanity by cutting away from Stewart to audience members filming the speech on their phones, rather than using a traditional bleep.
During his speech, Stewart reminisced about his early career, saying: “When I started singing in the early ’60s, well before all of you lot were here, the reason I got into it was because I had this burning ambition to sing.
“It’s all I wanted to do. I didn’t want to be rich or famous, and here I am a few years later, picking up this wonderful award.”
The Maggie May singer also managed to include a risqué joke about his eight children, quipping: “I’ve got eight [kids] all together. I didn’t have a television,” before adding sheepishly, “That was a little joke.”
Stewart went on to express gratitude to artists who influenced him, including Sam Cooke, David Ruffin and Muddy Waters.
Following his speech, Stewart delivered an energetic performance of his 1988 hit Forever Young.
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The rendition featured a folk interlude midway through, showcasing his female backing musicians and tap dancers.
The performance included a brief tap solo and a duet by his two fiddle players with marching bass drum accompaniment before returning to the song for a dramatic finale.
Three of Stewart’s eight children were not present at the ceremony, including his eldest daughter Sarah Streeter, 61, and his two youngest sons with current wife Penny Lancaster – Alistair, 19, and Aiden, 14.
This marked Stewart’s first performance at the awards show since 2004.
Stewart is currently scheduled to perform on the North American leg of his One Last Time World Tour, with his next show taking place at The Colosseum Theater at Caesars Palace on Thursday.
This summer, the Grammy-winning singer will also perform at Glastonbury as one of the oldest musicians to play at the festival.
The American Music Awards, hosted by Jennifer Lopez, aired live on Monday, May 26 from Fontainebleau Las Vegas at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.
This year marked the first time the AMAs ceremony was shown on CBS, having previously aired on ABC since 1974, and the first time it aired live since 2022.