Rod Stewart has hit back at Elvis Costello following the frontman of The Attractionsâ recent comments about his performance at the Queenâs Jubilee concert.
Earlier this month, the Maggie May singer was among the musicians who performed during a celebratory concert in honour of the Queenâs Platinum Jubilee.
During the show, he revealed heâd been asked by the BBC to cover Neil Diamondâs Sweet Caroline, which received a somewhat mixed response from viewers.
Among the critics was Elvis Costello, who reportedly told the crowd during his show in Glasgow he thought the event was âshiteâ.
âI mean, I know you all love him and heâs one of yours and everything, but Rod. What the fuck?â Elvis said. âI must say, listen we all have bad nights vocally, but for fuckâs sake, Sweet fucking Caroline? Are you fucking kidding me?â
He added: âI mean Iâve been in showbusiness 45 years so I do know a thing or two. How is it that nobody suggested Rod sing âYou Wear It Wellâ?â
Hitting back on Twitter, Rod pointed out that his vocals werenât quite up to par as heâd recovered from Covid just before he performed at the show.
He tweeted: âYes my voice was rough cos of Covid. I apologise, I though it better it to make an appearance rather than let everyone down so sorry. By the way, whereâs your hair gone mate????? [sic]â
He then signed off the message, âSir Rodâ.
Responding shortly afterwards, Elvis wrote: âDear Lord Stewart. You know I love you. Think the Queen would have loved You Wear It Well or even Hot Legs.
âAs to gigs, I had a stinker the other night in Liverpool. They come and go, like hair, which I keep sewn in my hat. Up The Republic.â
Rodâs wife Penny Lancaster previously claimed during an appearance on Loose Women that her husband âdidnât have much of a choiceâ when it came to performing Sweet Caroline, as itâs âthe Queenâs favouriteâ.
Defending his performance, she added: âIt was very very touch and go and he was so nervous leading up to it and he was three weeks in Vegas and caught covid just after the last show, he came home and was past the ten day period of being contagious but he lost his voice.
âSo the sound check on the Wednesday he went along and wore a mask but had no voice and he was like how long can I leave it?â
âSo he went for another rehearsal on the Friday but his voice is there now but he wasnât quite on, but he didnât want to disappoint anybody.
âIt wasnât the Rod Stewart show, it was for the nation and for everybody to come together for the Queen. He wanted to please the people so that was the song.â