IN a massive musical celebration of his knighthood, Rod Stewart showed Southampton exactly why he’s rock royalty.

Honoured in the Queen’s 90th birthday list for services to music and charity, he was on stage at the Ageas Bowl last night when the news was revealed.

He has won a Grammy, been inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and sold more than 200 million records. But he was clearly emotional as he dedicated the latest honour to his fans.

“It’s all down to you guys,” he said, before regaling the audience with a congratulatory message he had received from Sir Elton John as they clapped, cheered and whistled.

A 26,000-strong sing-along to Maggie May as the sun set over West End was another memorable moment in a fantastic night’s entertainment.

However, the evening was marred by logistical problems, with fans reporting traffic chaos, poor crowd control and hours of queues.

The music icon burst onto stage wearing his trademark leopard print jacket and shoes and skin tight trousers and launched into Having A Party, much to the delight of a spirited crowd who were already on their feet and in full voice.

An athletic show saw Rod the Mod in flamboyant form, shaking his hips and sliding across stage between tracks.

The 71-year-old dedicated a moving Rhythm of My Heart to the fallen during the D-Day landings in the year he was born before launching into crowd pleaser Maggie May.

The set was made up of mostly fans favourites like acoustic versions of You’re in My Heart and The First Cut is the Deepest with the occasional track from the 2015 album Another Country including Please, which hit all the high notes.

The home of Hampshire Cricket was packed to the rafters with Rod Stewart fans new and old, some of them sporting their tartans or Celtic shirts in his honour.

Saints heroes Matt Le Tissier and Francis Benali were in the crowd - and shared a cheeky selfie on Twitter.

Sir Rod's daughter Ruby had warmed up the crowd with a set including a cover of her dad’s ‘70s classic Gasoline Alley with her band The Sisterhood.

He left the stage with a bang as a fireworks show lit up the sky while the final notes of Da Ya Think I’m Sexy rang out.

Arise Sir Rod!