Elton John confirms retirement from touring

Elton John is sticking to his retirement plans. During a Thursday, June 27, interview with Entertainment Tonight, the “Rocket Man” singer, 77, firmly answered “no” when asked whether he plans to ever tour again.

John’s husband, David Furnish, chimed in to say that the pair want to focus on their sons, Zachary, 13, and Elijah, 11.

“We’ve got our sons, you know, they’re getting into their teenage years now,” Furnish, 61, said. “We don’t want to miss anything. We want to be present for that. It’s sort of a key decade, I think, in a child’s life. He’s been doing it for 60 years, so it’s nice to have that time to spend at home with family.”

John added that he’s satisfied with his last hurrah being the final show of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which took place in Stockholm in July 2023.

“The last show in Stockholm on the farewell tour after Glastonbury, I got in the car and went, ‘Yes! Yes!’ We went out on the biggest high, just the way I wanted to, and there’s no going back [after] that,” he said.

The Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour kicked off in 2018 and was initially meant to end in 2021. However, the coronavirus pandemic and a hip injury that Elton sustained in 2021 pushed the final show back.

John’s last song in Stockholm was, fittingly, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” He thanked the crowd for a “magical” end to his touring life and reflected on his “wonderful” career.

Fifty two years of pure joy, playing music. How lucky am I to play music? But I wouldn’t be sitting here and talking to you if it wasn’t for you. You bought the singles, the CDs, the albums, the cassettes. But more importantly, you bought the tickets to the shows. And you know how much I love to play live. It’s been my lifeblood to play for you guys. You’ve been absolutely magnificent. Thank you,” he said.

The EGOT winner reiterated that he would “never be touring again” but teased “one-off” performances in the future.

“But that’s miles away. I want to appreciate my family, my sons, my husband, everything,” he said.

John and Furnish gushed about completing their family after welcoming Elijah via surrogate in January 2013.

Both of us have longed to have children, but the reality that we now have two sons is almost unbelievable,” the couple told Hello! magazine at the time. “The birth of our second son completes our family in a most precious and perfect way. It is difficult to fully express how we are feeling at this time; we are just overwhelmed with happiness and excitement.”

John married Furnish in 2014 after same-sex marriage became legal in the United Kingdom. The pair started dating in 1993 and formed a civil partnership in 2005. Furnish gave John a sweet shout-out in honor of his 77th birthday in March.

Happy Birthday to my irrepressible husband @eltonjohn. You are the best father, hardest working artist and musician, bountiful humanitarian, loving partner, and most loyal friend,” he wrote via Instagram. “Love you forever.”

John wrote in the comments, “I love you and am so incredibly lucky to have you in my life, thank you for everything.”