Bette Midler has spent more than five decades on the live stage, but she’s decided now is the time to give it all up.
In a new interview for Parade magazine, Bette, 75, insists she’ll continue to act, but admits her time on stage, performing concerts, is over.
“My time on the stage is basically up,” she confirms. “I don’t have the impulse to prove myself anymore.
“I feel like ‘I did that’. And I’ve done a lot. I’ve earned my rest.
“Am I going to make an announcement? No. I’m just going to fade away. I did the best I could to give people joy.”
The ‘Beaches’ star last toured in 2015 in support of her 14th album, ‘It’s the Girls!’, and later hit the stage with Cher and Billy Joel in 2018.
Bette began her professional career in several Off-Off-Broadway plays in the late 1960s and came to prominence in 1970 when she began singing in the Continental Baths, New York, and built up a core LGBTQ+ following.
She went on to release 14 studio albums as a solo artist, selling over 30 million records worldwide, and scoring hits with tracks including The Rose, Wind Beneath My Wings, Do You Want to Dance, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and From a Distance.
