Elton John isn’t giving up performing for good when he closes out his ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour.
The music legend will finally wrap the trek – which launched way back in 2018 – this summer, marking the end of his touring days after more than six decades in the music business.
However, he’s not ready to quit playing live altogether and told fans he’ll still make live appearances now and again.
Admitting he is ready for a “little bit of freedom”, Elton said: “Touring is exhausting for me now, and it takes me away from my family and my children.”
Although keen to spend more time with husband David Furnish and their twin boys, Elton promised fans that “there may be the odd show” still to come (via Metro).
One such event will take place at the 2023 Emmy Promotion evening in Los Angeles, where Elton will promote the Disney+ show ‘Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium’.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Elton’s farewell tour is the highest-grossing concert series of all time after it became the first tour to cross the $800 million benchmark.
The milestone saw him smash the record initially set by Ed Sheeran in 2019, when his ‘Divide’ tour grossed $776.4 million on the back of a 258-show run. Previous leader, U2’s ‘The 360 Tour’, grossed $736.4 million.
While the majority of those artists’ revenue was generated by playing largely stadium shows, Elton’s concerts have mostly taken place in arenas, with him grossing $268.2 million over 116 shows in the first three North American legs. Meanwhile, his stadium shows from July-November 2022 in the region generated $222.1 million in just 33 gigs.
European stadium gigs grossed $69.2 million compared with $49.9 million arena shows, despite him playing fewer concerts.
Although Elton comes out on top with his financials, both Ed and U2 have still outsold Elton; the Rocket Man star has shifted 5.3 million tickets, also ranking him behind the Rolling Stones’ 1994-95 ‘Voodoo Lounge’ tour, Coldplay’s ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ concerts in 2016-17, and Guns N’ Roses’ 2016-19 ‘Not In This Lifetime…’ concerts.
Among the final dates of the trek, he’s set to close out this year’s Glastonbury festival with a massive headline performance on Sunday, June 25.
