On July 8, 2023, Elton John played what was officially billed as his final tour show — a curtain call in Stockholm that was meant to mark the end of a five-year journey across the globe. The moment was emotional. It was historic. And, in typical Elton fashion, it was grand.
“I’ve had the most wonderful career, beyond belief,” he told the crowd. “You’ve been absolutely magnificent, thank you!”
The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, first announced in 2018, was Elton’s way of drawing a line under his live performance era. Plagued by pandemic delays and a 2021 hip injury, the tour could have fallen apart. Instead, it ended triumphantly. “I want to appreciate my family,” he said that night. “I’ve earned it and I don’t regret it.”
But here’s the twist: Elton John isn’t done. Not really.
Since that Stockholm send-off, the Rocket Man has returned to the stage over a dozen times. He inducted Bernie Taupin into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, sang at the Stonewall National Monument’s opening, and duetted with Chappell Roan at his 2025 Oscars party.
He’s also launched a new album with Brandi Carlile (Who Believes in Angels?) and approved a documentary (Never Too Late) and a retrospective tour memoir. “I don’t want to coast,” he said earlier this year. And he hasn’t.
When Stephen Colbert asked him how it felt to not have another tour looming, Elton’s answer was pure honesty: “It’s the most fantastic thing in the world… I love [my family] more than I love touring.”
He meant every word of it. The final tour may be over. But Elton John is still playing — on his own terms, in his own way, and still proving that retirement doesn’t mean silence.
