Saduf Maruf: Rod and Rachel have no immediate plans to divorce

The couple had been together for eight years and have two young children, Renee, six, and four-year-old Liam.

When they married in 1990, Stewart had only known model Hunter, then 21, for three months.

They announced their split in a brief joint statement issued through Stewart's American management company, Stiefel Entertainments.

It said: "After eight years of marriage Rod Stewart and his wife Rachel Hunter have formally announced their separation. There are no immediate plans for the couple's divorce."

Stewart's representatives in Los Angeles and London have refused to comment any further on the separation.

Rumours of problems

The 53-year-old completed a British tour just before Christmas and there had been rumours that a cancelled concert just before Christmas had been partly due to marriage problems.

But he frequently spoke of his love for Hunter in interviews, and often dedicated a cover version of Van Morrison's Have I Told You Lately to her at his live shows.

The former Faces musician's love life has been as well known as his music for decades. A football fanatic and devoted Scotland fan, he romanced his way through the 1960s and 1970s with a string of actresses and models.

Women he had been associated with include Britt Ekland, The Woman in Red star Kelly Le Brock, and model Dee Harrington.

He married and divorced Hollywood socialite Alana Hamilton, with whom he has two children, Sean, 17, and Kimberley, 19, herself starting a modelling career.

He also has another daughter, Ruby, with model Kelly Emberg, with whom he spent five years. They never married.

Stewart, who went to the same North London school as Kinks brothers Ray and Dave Davies, started his musical career in R 'n' B act Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions. In 1967 he joined the Jeff Beck Group, leaving to form The Faces with Ron Wood in 1969.

Moved to Los Angeles

His solo career saw him leave Britain for Los Angeles in 1975, where tales of his energetic social life multiplied.

Towards the end of the 1980s his career recovered, and his 1991 album Vagabond Heart was a massive hit in the UK and US. Last year he released an album of cover versions, When We Were The New Boys, which included a version of Oasis' Cigarettes And Alcohol.

Ironically, months before his divorce from Hunter, Stewart - who will be 54 on Sunday - had been promoting himself with a brand new image as a family man.