As Sir Rod Stewart turns 80, we take a look at his stellar music career, colourful love life and inimitable style

The stylish star dons a leopard print jacket to enjoy an evening out with wife Penny Lancaster

shares a microphone with The Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood in the 1970s.

From rock legend to national treasure via feminist champion and philanthropist, Sir Rod Stewart, who celebrates his 80th birthday this week, still holds a firm place in our hearts.

The flamboyant tartanw earing, gravel-voiced singer – born in London on 10 January 1945 to a Scottish father and English mother – who has carved a place in the pantheon of rock over the past six decades shows no signs of slowing down.

However, his reputation as a ladies’ man – he has eight children with five partners – has faded into oblivion since he met his wife Penny Lancaster 25 years ago.

It is with his beloved family – Penny, 53, and their sons Alastair, 19, and Aiden, 13 – that the global superstar, whose hits include Maggie May and You Wear it Well, will be marking his milestone birthday. And the series of celebratory events will, according to his wife of 18 years, “go on for several weeks”. “We’ll start in Florida for Christmas and then go on a big ship together, heading to the Caribbean,” Penny told HELLO! last year. “It will be a wonderful journey.”