Steven A Henry/Getty ImagesRod Stewart recently stepped in to help a group of children with disabilities and their families.
CNN reports that Stewart was inspired after seeing one of the news channel’s stories and wrote to his manager, “I’ve just seen something on CNN that’s heartbreaking. It was a group of families with severely disabled children who are driving to Washington to confront about health care cuts. See if you can find out who they are.”
Rod’s manager, Arnold Stiefel, told CNN, “He was so touched and heartbroken and actually teary. He said to me, ‘As a father of eight I have to do something now.'”
The families had chartered a bus from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Washington, D.C., to protest cuts to Medicaid. The trip cost $30,000 but they had only raised $7,000. Even more disheartening, the families did not get to meet with elected officials as they had intended.
But Stewart was determined to do something, so he cut them a check to cover the cost of the rest of their trip.
On Tuesday night, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer ended his concert in New Jersey with a video tribute to the families.
“Some of you may know that I live in America and pay my taxes here,” the British singer told the crowd. “I’m neither a Democrat nor a Republican, but I am a father.”
Stewart’s summer tour, which features special guest Cyndi Lauper, continues tonight in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and wraps up August 12 in Houston. Rod then will play a new series of Las Vegas shows as part of his ongoing Caesars Palace residency running from August 18 through September 3.
Here are all of Stewart’s upcoming concerts:
7/28 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH, Blossom Music Center
7/29 — Rochester, NY, CMAC PAC
8/1 — Clarkston, MI, DTE Energy Music Theatre
8/4 — Cincinnati, OH, Riverbend Music Center
8/5 — Tinley Park, IL, Hollywood Casino Amphitheater – CHI
8/11 — Dallas, TX, Verizon Theater
8/12 — Houston, TX, Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
8/18, 19, 22, 26, 27, 29 — Las Vegas, Nevada, Caesars Palace
9/2, 3 — Las Vegas, Nevada, Caesars Palace
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