Elton John Announces Final Tour; 300 Dates Over Three Years

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP – Elton John
Performing before announcing final world tour at Gotham Hall in New York.

Wanting to go out with a bang and not a whimper, Sir Elton John, 70, announced his final global tour starting in September 8, 2018. Ticket sales kick off Feb.2, 2018, with the first concert in Allentown, PA. 

Spanning more than 300 dates over three years, the tour, “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” will allow the legend to properly say farewell to his global fanbase hitting North America, Europe Asia, South America, and Australia.

The New York announcement kicked off with a five-minute VR presentation that documented his nearly 50 years on the road followed by a live performance by Elton John singing “I’m Still Standing.”

The announcement of the tour follows the news that he’s extending his Las Vegas residency at the Colosseum, “The Million Dollar Piano” until May 2018.

Moderated by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, Sir Elton talked about being creative while balancing his personal life.

“Performing live fuels me and I’m ecstatic and humbled to continue to play to audiences across the globe,” John said. “I plan to bring the passion and creativity that has entertained my fans for decades to my final tour. After the tour finishes, I’m very much looking forward to closing off that chapter of my life by saying farewell to life on the road. I need to dedicate more time to raising my children.”

When asked about favorite venue, the “World’s Most Famous Arena” took top honors.

“Madison Square Garden is my favorite place in the whole world. It’s a magical place and I will never forget the night John Lennon came on stage with me,” he said,

Sir Elton is not quite ready to step out of the limelight as he’s scheduled to perform with Miley Cyrus at Sunday’s Grammy Awards as well as by honored with a Grammy Salute with guest stars including Miley, Kesha, Miranda Lambert, John Legend, Chris Martin, Sam Smith, Keith Urban and others.

– Elton John
Farewell Yellow Brick Road

Elton’s career achievements to date are unsurpassed in their breadth and longevity.

Dating back to 2009,  Pollstar has Elton John grossing more than $553 million after adjusting for inflation, with just under 5 million tickets sold worldwide. 

Elton is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time, with 38 gold records and 31 platinum and multi-platinum albums, over 50 Top 40 hits, and he has sold more than 300 million records worldwide.

He holds the record for the biggest-selling single of all time, “Candle in the Wind 1997,” which sold over 33 million copies. ‘Diamonds’ the Ultimate Greatest Hits album, reached the Top 5 of the UK album charts on its release in November 2017, becoming Elton’s 40^th UK Top 40 album in the process, reaching Gold status before the end of the year. 

Box office reports submitted to Pollstar for 2017 include March 21 at Tucson Arena, which sold 8,199 tickets and grossed $984,95, Nov. 11 at Ford Center in Indiana, which sold out at 10,319 tickets and grossed $1.05 million, and a bunch of Australian dates promoted by Chugg Entertainment, including Sept. 24 at WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, which sold 20,285 tickets and grossed $2.45 million.