After more than 600 days offstage, Elton John has once again resumed his farewell tour. The worldwide “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour began back in 2018 but was put on hold for nearly two years during the pandemic. Now, John is once again taking the stage as he kicks off what he says is definitely the final round of dates, beginning in New Orleans.
In an interview with “CBS Mornings”, John says he’s ready to put his performing days behind him to spend time with his husband David Furnish and their two sons: Elijah, 9, and Zachary, 11.
“I want to be with my family,” John explains. “I’ve been touring since I was 17, in the back of a van. I’ve had the most incredible life. I’ve been so lucky and I’ve loved every single minute of it but I’ve had enough of applause… I’ll be 76 years of age when I stop touring in 2023.”
“I want to do something different with the rest of my life,” he admits, “but we have to finish this tour. It’s been postponed so many times. I want to finish it in the best way possible, in the most triumphant way possible.
“If it gets postponed any more Ill by 85 when it’s finished.”
“I hope I’m not too rusty”: After more than 50 years of touring, @eltonofficial is retiring from the road — but not before he finishes his postponed farewell tour.
He tells @AnthonyMasonCBS what it’s like to perform after lockdown, tomorrow on #CBSMornings. pic.twitter.com/aBHBPOy8jm
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) January 19, 2022
Though the musician has kept busy during lockdown — collaborating with artists like Lil Nas X, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran for his album The Lockdown Sessions, filming a vaccine PSA for the U.K’s National Health Service with Michael Caine, and receiving the elite Order of the Companions of Honour from Prince Charles, John says it’s his downtime at home over the last two years that he’s enjoyed the most.
READ MORE: Elton John And Michael Caine Star In UK COVID-19 Vaccine PSA
“I’m never at home,” he tells “CBS Mornings”. “This house I’m in, in Windsor, I’ve been in since 1975. I’ve barely spent three or four weeks at a time here before I’m going somewhere else. I got to spend lockdown with David, my husband, and Zachary and Elijah, our sons, and it was just the best time possible. It was great.”
The “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour has six remaining Canadian dates currently scheduled, with stops in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver in 2022.
