Elton John has admitted he is still "trying to process" his farewell concerts coming to an end after more than 50 years.
The pop icon, 76, said goodbye to his touring life last weekend at his final performance in Sweden. His ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour started in 2018, with the plan for Elton to stop in 2021.
Thanks to the pandemic, Elton was able to extend his tour for another two years after many shows had to be postponed. The I'm Still Standing hitmaker performed at Stockholm’s Tele2 Arena on Saturday (July 8), marking the final date of the tour.
After the show, Elton took to Instagram to share his thoughts. He wrote: "When we set off on my final tour in 2018, I couldn’t have foreseen in my wildest dreams the twists and turns and the highs and lows this tour – and the whole world – would have experienced in the next 5 years.
“And every step the way, my fans have been there. You have stuck with me, you have supported me, you have been patient and you have kept turning out for every single last show.”
He called his final concert “magical” and said he was still “trying to process it”. Adding: “I don’t think it will sink in for a while yet that I’m finally finished touring. I can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss you all and how much your support has humbled me – it will stay with me forever.”
Elton also thanked the huge team who worked on the tour around the world with him. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making every performance an unforgettable experience and filling the last five years of the farewell tour with memories I will never forget,” he wrote.
The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour saw Elton travel across five continents and perform 330 dates. It smashed the tour earnings record raking in over the $900m barrier, according to US industry website Billboard – with another $20m (£15.6m) expected from eight gigs yet to be included in its calculations.
It means he has soared past previous record holder Ed Sheeran who took £606.8m for his Divide tour ending in 2019, and U2’s two-year 360 tour which made £575.5m by its end in 2011.
It comes just weeks after Elton headlined Glastonbury to a crowd thought to have topped 100,000 and a record peak audience of 7.6 million watching on BBC1.
The Rocket Man legend will now be spending more time with husband David Furnish, 60, and their sons Zachary, 12, and Elijah, 10. However, he has teased he might return to the stage once more as a “one-off thing” some time.
