If this old heart of mine gives way... I'll turn to Rod

Determined to stop mourners singing hymns she regards as "soppy" at her funeral, Kim has issued legally-binding instructions forcing her family to play two of Rod Stewart's greatest tracks when the time comes for her to face the music.

The 51-year-old, who has spent more than 20,000 following Rod about the country, and once famously saw him playing five nights running, admitted the legal moves hadn't gone down well with too many of her friends and workmates.

But Kim defended the decision yesterday and said: "Not everyone's as mad about Rod as me, and I've had my relatives and friends telling me I'm crackers for putting his name in my will.

"They think that I'm mad – but it's my funeral and nobody else's and having it in the will means they've got to do it my way, and play what I want. Rod's been a big part of my life since I was 12 years old.

"I've loved his music for nearly 40 years, he's meant the world to me and my sister Diane, and we've travelled thousands of miles and spent a small fortune seeing his shows all over the country.

"We've been to at least 100 concerts, Rod's never let us down, he's always the same, just fantastic, and when the time comes he's going to see me off with his two best tracks.

"I've never been religious so I don't want people turning up singing soppy hymns that I've never heard and mean nothing to me. I don't want my family picking what they want for the funeral after I'm gone.

"At least this way I'm sure of getting You Wear It Well when they carry the coffin into the church and Maggie May later on, and nobody can over-rule me with it written into my will."

The support worker, who cares for people with learning difficulties, insisted she had no immediate plans to leave her friends and family behind.

Kim, from Maltby, near Rotherham, said: "I'm perfectly healthy. I can still fit into a T shirt I bought at a show 30 years ago, and I reckon that I've got plenty of years left listening to Rod, and following him around the country. But you've got to make preparations for the future – that's what the will is for and at least everyone knows now what they've got to do in case something happens."

Kim's love affair with Rod didn't run smoothly before she got married in the 1980s. She said: "My ex-husband wasn't very keen when I wanted to go and see Rod on our wedding night.

"He wouldn't let me go to the show in Birmingham, but I'd seen Rod five times in the week before the wedding so I just said okay in the end. We didn't argue about it, but things fell apart anyway after a while, and we split up eventually after four years."

Kim most recently watched her idol perform in front of 11,000 fans at Sheffield Arena.

"I get so excited when a concert's coming up that I can't sleep at night. Some people go on about Rod being 65 but he still has the same effect he's always had on me, and I love him as much as ever."

Kim's long term partner Kevin Whittaker doesn't share her passion for the ageing rocker.

The works manager, aged 52, said: "I was a big fan in the 70s, and had my hair spiked like Rod when I was a teenager but I've grown out of him now.

"Kim would go and see him every night if she could afford to so it doesn't surprise me that she's got him in her will.

"I know some people think she's crazy doing it, but Kim has always loved Rod, and I think it's only right that she should be able to plan her own funeral the way she wants it."

Rod the mod not a funeral favourite

Rod Stewart did not figure in a top ten list of funeral songs compiled by the Co-operative Funeralcare last year.

The undertaker came up with a list based on a survey of staff at its 242 chapels of rest nationwide.

The top five were:

1. My Way, Frank Sinatra

2. Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler

3. Time to Say Goodbye, Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli

4. Angels, Robbie Williams

5. Over the Rainbow, Eva Cassidy

The company also compiled a list of "quirky" choices which had been used across the country.

This time the Top Five were:

1. Another One Bites the Dust, Queen

2. Disco Inferno, The Trammps

3. Bat out of Hell, Meatloaf

4. Spirit in the Sky, Gareth Gates and the Kumars

5. Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash