Sir Rod Stewart has donated £10,000 to NHS Grampian to fund extra cancer screenings at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary this weekend.
The singer, who has overcome both prostate and thyroid cancer, said the money will allow up to 24 more patients to get MRI scans on Saturday and Sunday.
Hospital bosses said it will cut waiting lists and speed up crucial cancer diagnoses.
Sir Rod said: “It’s vital that people receive early investigations and quick diagnosis.
“It is an honour to be in the position to be able to help support the NHS by funding some additional scans to boost NHS Grampian’s current capacity.”
ARI is the second hospital to benefit from Sir Rod’s generosity – in February he showed up at a scanning unit near his home in Essex and paid for a day of scans.
That followed a phone call to Sky News in January in which he criticised long wait times for treatment and offered to pay for scans out of his own pocket.
He called in after watching the segment Your Say while building his model railway at home.
“There are people dying because they cannot get scans,” he told the programme.
Sir Rod’s two previous brushes with cancer
Staff at NHS Grampian gratefully received the extra funding.
“Sir Rod has a long and well known relationship with Scotland, and he is held in affection by many in NHS Grampian, so being able to share this great news with them is a personal privilege,” said divisional clinical director Hugh Bishop.
In 2019, Sir Rod announced he had beaten prostate cancer after a three-year battle with the disease. The announcement came two decades after he overcame thyroid cancer.
Sir Rod is on a UK summer tour. He won’t visit the north-east, but will play two nights at Edinburgh Castle on 6-7 July.
Rod Stewart has played in Aberdeen numerous times, including in 1967 when he appeared at the Douglas Hotel as a member of The Jeff Beck Group.
The band travelled to the north-east in a Transit van as part of a UK tour.
Sir Rod is also a long-standing friend of Ricky Simpson, the Aberdonian entrepreneur and former owner of numerous hospitality venues including Simpson’s Hotel on Queen’s Road, which is now The Chester Hotel.
One of the best-selling artists of all time, Sir Rod has had 10 number-one albums and 31 UK top-ten singles.
The Maggie May and Sailing singer last played Aberdeen in December 2022 when entertained a packed crowd at P&J Live.
He was knighted by Prince William at Buckingham Palace for his services to music and charity in 2016.