Rod Stewart Releases Song About Secret Split From Penny Lancaster, Reflects On His ‘Banana’

Rod Stewart has revealed how he split from wife Penny Lancaster for two difficult weeks in their marriage.

The 68-year-old rocker’s new album, Time, includes a cover of the Tom Waits track ‘Picture in a Frame.’ In an interview with The Daily Mirror, Stewart explains how the song has a relevance to his own life:

“Penny and I broke up for two weeks and the song is about that time. I asked her for a photo of herself in a frame so that I could see her when I went to bed and when I woke up.”

Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster have been together for close to 14 years now and married in 2007. Despite Stewart‘s long line of liaisons — he has had eight children with five women — he and model Lancaster always seemed like a stable couple, and news of their previously secret split may surprise fans. The singer tells The Mirror:

“I have taken a lot of risks when it comes to relationships but I have never gambled or smoked – women don’t like that. You have to take the good with the bad, and women prefer you when you’re truthful.”

In a separate interview with Australian magazine Life, Stewart adds that he’s learned several valuable lessons about relationships down the years:

“My relationship rule is, ‘Don’t argue after a glass of wine – leave debating until the morning.’ I have always loved women, won some, lost some, but it’s not about the magic touch, it’s about being a better person and a good listener.

“I met Penny in my 50s and if I had not learnt by that point in my life I was never going to.”

And, speaking to USA Today this week (in a video embedded below), Rod Stewart revealed what advice he’d give to his 20-year-old self:

“Maybe keep your banana in the fruit bowl a little longer, it has got me in a lot of trouble.”

[Image via Shutterstock.com]