Sir Elton John has certainly paid his dues touring over the years. Across multiple global tours the star has travelled millions of miles and played to a similar number of fans in a career spanning over 60 years.
As such he’s got more than a few words to say about the current state of play for up-and-coming bands, today’s touring landscape and the loony logistics left behind, post-Brexit.
And in his new book Farewell Yellow Brick Road: Memories of My Life on Tour he’s eager to set the record straight. In it Sir Elton not only tells the tales of his encounters with fans and the logistics of being on the road on his record-breaking globe-spanning final tour, taking in 330 dates and running from 2018 through to 2023, but puts the boot into the UK’s politics and the Brexit aftermath that has left travelling musicians “in leg irons”.
“Being back on tour in Europe and experiencing the impact of Britain leaving the European Union first-hand caused the frustration and anger to hit me all over again,” Sir Elton complains. “One of Britain’s greatest and most successful exports has been its music. Look at The Beatles, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Adele, Ed Sheeran, me… we have created an extraordinary global musical footprint.
“When I go to a new place, I leave a footprint behind and that matters,” and that’s a luxury that he feels is no longer available to young and up and coming artists.
“The government has slapped leg irons on them when it comes to touring in Europe,” he writes. ”They are jeopardising each artist’s future and also the country’s status as a cultural force. It horrified me, and continues to.”
Sir Elton has been a fierce campaigner against Brexit and its effects on touring for many years describing the situation as a "looming catastrophe" in a statement in 2021.
"I want to be clear that the issues of visa-free and permit-free touring aren't about the impact on me, and artists who tour arenas and stadiums," he said. "This gravest of situations is about the damage to the next generation of musicians and emerging artists, whose careers will stall before they've even started due to this infuriating blame game.
"If I had faced the financial and logistical obstacles facing young musicians now when I started out, I'd never have had the opportunity to build the foundations of my career and I very much doubt I would be where I am today."
And who precisely is to blame for the huge increase in red tape, permissions, and costs artists wishing to tour abroad are now enduring? Elton has a simple answer: “The bloody government tricked people into a bad vote,” he writes. “People in Britain weren’t told the truth.”
Elton John’s new book Farewell Yellow Brick Road: Memories of My Life on Tour is available now.
