GMA: Rod Stewart Talks About his Exes

Feb. 8 -- He may travel all over the world and live in a $5 million home in Los Angeles now, but Rod Stewart grew up dirt poor in North London, the youngest of four children.

“I grew up in a very wonderfully loving but poor family,” Stewart said in the second part of a three-part interview with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America. “We were poor. And were we poor.”

Just how poor? Well, Stewart might exaggerate a bit.

“Well, we all used to live in a septic tank,” Stewart said. “My father used to make me lick the pavement when I was a bad boy.”

When he and Sawyer laughed together, Stewart persisted.

“It’s true. The whole family got a box of matches for Christmas to share amongst us. That’s all we got for a Christmas present. Were we poor,” he said.

The Importance of a Good Hair Dryer

The 56-year-old rock star is known for jet-setting all over the world, driving luxurious cars, and his relationships and marriages to a string of beautiful blondes. He plays soccer and stays fit. But how old does he feel inside?

“Well, on the soccer field I feel, you know, like I’m 19 or 20, because I can run forever,” Stewart said. “When I wake up in the morning after a hard night, and I look in the mirror, and I’m 90. I’ve got a good hair dryer.”

How he feels about his appearance depends on where he looks.

“It all depends. I think one should always have nice mirrors in one’s house, you know, well lit,” Stewart said. “As the years advance, we need those things.”

Back in his London days, Stewart acquired the nickname “Rod the Mod.” When he played with the Jeff Beck Group on a tour that started at New York’s Fillmore East in 1968, Stewart’s style won the American crowds over, even though British audiences still didn’t know him yet.

Yet the British rocker said he wouldn’t want to go back to those early days in his career.