Earlier this week, Neil Diamond announced that he’s retiring from touring, effective immediately, with his remaining shows being canceled in the wake of a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. Today, Elton John announced that he’s also going to retire from touring, though his decision thankfully didn’t come in response to a doctor’s advice. As reported by Variety, John has announced a three-year, 300-date tour called “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” that will start in the U.S. later this year and run until some time in 2021.
He says he’s not going to be “one of those people” that does a big world tour and then decides not to retire, adding, “I’m not Cher, even though I like wearing her clothes.” John also notes that this doesn’t mean he’ll never perform live again, but if he does it’ll probably be part of a residency and it probably won’t happen outside of England—to the extent that he specifically says he won’t return to Europe, Australia, Asia, South America, and “probably not America.” In other words, this will probably be most people’s last chance to see Elton John perform live. (It also may be your last chance to see Elton John perform not live, since he says he made his oldest son promise to never make a hologram of him.)
The 2018 tour dates are below, and the rest will presumably pop up on his website in the future.
Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour
9/8—Allentown, PA—PPL Center
9/11-12—Philadelphia, PA—The Wells Fargo Center
9/15—Buffalo, NY—KeyBank Center
9/16—University Park, PA—Bryce Jordan Center
9/19—Hartford, CT—XL Center