Why Rod Stewart turned down a $1 million gig
Rod Stewart has shared why he turned down a $1 million deal to perform in Qatar.
The 77-year-old rockstar said that he was offered the seven-figure deal over a year ago, but refused because of the Gulf state's human rights record.
When discussing the controversy surrounding the World Cup host nation, where homosexuality is illegal, the singer told the Sunday Times he thought it would be wrong to play a set there.
"I was actually offered a lot of money, over $1m, to play there 15 months ago," he said.
"I turned it down. It's not right to go. And the Iranians should be out too for supplying arms," he said in reference to drones supplied by the country to Russia, which was barred from the tournament.
He added that he thinks fans attending matches in Qatar, where being gay can lead to imprisonment and even the death sentence for Muslims, "have got to watch out".
Stewart has been considered an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, previously saying he was "surrounded by gay men in the 70s".
One of the singer's hit songs, The Killing of Georgie, is about the murder of a gay friend and made waves when it came out in 1976, when very few mainstream songs discussed the experiences of gay men.
He said it would have been "good" to sing the song as a protest during the opening ceremony of the football tournament.
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