Heidi Klum reveals her single with Snoop Dogg almost got derailed by Rod Stewart – Daily Mail

Heidi Klum is dipping her pedicured toes into the EDM world with new bop, Chai Tea with Heidi, in collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg. 

The German-born supermodel exclusively chatted with DailyMail.com about how the partnership came about, revealing she cold-called the hip hop legend to get him on board after having been a ‘huge fan’ for decades.

Klum gushed over recording with Snoop at his ‘amazing’ Inglewood studio but said the whole project was nearly axed over a lost email from English musical icon Rod Stewart. 

The idea for the former Victoria’s Secret Angel to drop a single began last number after the 48-year-old beauty wrapped up the finale of Germany’s Next Top Model.

Amid celebratory champagne, someone suggested that Klum sing the theme song for the next season of the reality competition show.  

‘You don’t have to ask me twice to sing something on the stage,’ Heidi quipped adding that she immediately jumped at the chance.

‘I’m a huge Snoop Dogg fan,’ she explained. The 50-year-old rapper was her first choice for a potential collaborator and, while they weren’t friends per se, the pair have been running in the same LA based celebrity circles for years.

‘I know Snoop from seeing him out and about and living in Los Angeles,’ she said, figuring she’d just ‘give him a call and ask him straight up.’

Snoop didn’t need convincing and invited Klum to his studio in Inglewood, California to get to work.

‘I drove my booty to Inglewood and there I was working on this song,’ she laughed.

For the song, Heidi wanted to sample the line ‘When I give my heart again // I know it’s gonna last forever’ from Rod Stewart’s 1983 track Baby Jane. 

Getting permission from the Grammy-winner turned out to be far more difficult that Heidi had anticipated, she tells DailyMail.com. 

Heidi said she went through her own personal rolodex and couldn’t find a single mutual friend shared with Stewart. 

‘We did already all the recording and we did the music video and I still could not get a hold of Rod Stewart,’ she recollected. 

However, a trip to get her highlights done with Beverly Hills based colorist to the stars, Tracey Cunningham, turned out to be fortuitous. Tracey, it turned out, knew Rod’s socialite daughter Kimberly who was happy to connect the supermodel with her father.

Heidi fired off an e-mail to Rod with the song attached and asked for his blessing.

‘I’m already worried this is going to fall apart because if Rod doesn’t like it [it’s] all gonna go in the garbage,’ she explained. ‘And I hear nothing, five weeks, six weeks, seven weeks.’

At this point Klum really started to panic and was fearing that she would be forced to scrap the whole thing.

‘Literally the dumbest thing,’ the beauty laughed. ‘He was in my spam. He actually emailed me back immediately [saying] ‘this is so fun, yes, you get my thumbs up.’ I would have been in big trouble.’

Heidi and Snoop recorded the track at what the cover girl described as his ‘amazing compound’ in Inglewood – complete with a fully decked out studio a and a huge ‘garage with 10-15 old timer cars.’ 

Snoop let Heidi pick her favorite one and the pair went on to use that car in the music video for Chai Tea with Heidi. 

Seeing the hip hop star at work in his studio left Klum ‘gobsmacked.’

‘I’m a huge fan,’ she gushed. ‘I always loved Snoop Dogg. I love him even more now. My poor husband has been listening to me talking about Snoop Dogg for so long now. I’ve been talking his ear off!’

As always, Klum looked spectacular in slinky ensembles for the Chai Tea music video and the catwalker slipped into a particularly racy black lace up mini dress from Dolce & Gabbana.

Never shy about showcasing her fit physique, Heidi said she’s embracing the 90s and early aughts skin-baring trends that have recently made a comeback.

‘It’s back on trend,’ she quipped about the reemergence of the ‘whale tail’ thong style. ‘Yes ladies, if you’re up for it, let it show!’

There isn’t a trend in sight that the Project Runway host doesn’t have fun with and she’s even ready for the return of ultra low-rise jeans – which she still has in the back of her closet.

‘The super low, barely hiding your private parts … when the crack is kind of hanging out the back,’ she described. ‘I’m a hoarder, I have a lot of the things in my closet. I must keep all these fun for things for my daughters.’

Klum’s daughter Leni, 17, is following in her mother’s model footsteps but Heidi says that while she is proud of her skills in front of the camera, she is more impressed by the solid head she has on her shoulders.

‘I’m so proud of her and not because she’s creating beautiful photos. All my kids are beautiful,’ she said fondly. At the moment, Leni is busy studying and getting in her college applications with modeling taking a back seat.

‘She kind of sees modeling as this fun thing to do on the side,’ the proud mom said. ‘For a young mind it could go quick to the head. ‘I’m most proud of her keeping focus.’

The track, Chai Tea with Heidi and the music video featuring Snoop Dogg are available now.