Rod Stewart, 81, Grabs Oxygen Tank Mid-Show After Nearly Fainting Onstage

The veteran rocker paused his Utah concert to breathe from an oxygen tank and asked the crowd if he could sit down — then kept right on playing.

Rod Stewart, 81, stopped mid-performance at a Utah venue after nearly fainting onstage.
Stewart used an oxygen tank in full view of the audience before continuing the show.
He told the crowd: 'I nearly f***ing fainted there. Would you mind if I sit down for this one?'
The audience responded warmly, and Stewart completed the concert from a seated position.
The incident is the latest health moment for the singer, who has continued a heavy touring schedule into his eighties.

The house lights were still up and the band was still warm when Rod Stewart reached for an oxygen tank. It was not a prop.

Stewart, 81, paused his concert in Utah over the weekend after nearly fainting onstage, stopping the show long enough to take oxygen in front of a full crowd. When he was steady enough to address the room, he was characteristically blunt about it. “I nearly f***ing fainted there,” he told the audience. “Would you mind if I sit down for this one?”

They did not mind. The crowd responded with what witnesses described as warm approval, and Stewart continued the set from a stool rather than his usual full-stage presence. The show finished.

Stewart has maintained a touring schedule that would test performers half his age. He turned 81 in January and has been open in recent years about past health challenges, including a throat cancer diagnosis in the early 2000s that he kept private for nearly two decades before disclosing it publicly in 2019. His voice has remained a working instrument despite it all.

Saturday's episode drew immediate attention on social media, with audience video circulating widely by the following morning. No formal statement had been issued by Stewart's camp as of the weekend.

His next scheduled dates remain on the tour calendar.