Rod Stewart doesn’t expect to pick up any #MeToo medals for championing the anti-harassment movement anytime soon, after recording a handful of inappropriate tracks in the 1970s and 80s.
The 73-year-old rocker now accepts some of his biggest hits, like Tonight’s The Night and Hot Legs, aren’t exactly women-friendly, but he insists “everything was different” when he wrote and recorded them.
“I couldn’t write a song like Tonight’s The Night now even if I wanted to,” he tells The Independent, “(and) Hot Legs is even worse – everything was different then, the clothes, the attitude, even the recording.”
But he’s hoping to redress the balance with his new track Look In Her Eyes, which suggests men should be more respectful to women.
“It’s saying, ‘Come on guys, back off, you don’t have to get drunk and throw her over a park bench to try and get your way.”
And Rod insists he’s never witnessed any bad behavior on tour, adding, “I’ve been on tour with Stevie Nicks and Cyndi Lauper but I haven’t really been around enough women.
“I’ve got six women in my band and I look after them all like they’re princesses… I didn’t see it, let me put it down to that.”
Stewart is currently promoting his new album, Blood Red Roses, which beat Cher’s Dancing Queen compilation of ABBA tunes to the top of the U.K. charts last week.