Elton: I’m quitting for sake of family
300-show global tour will be his last ‘My priorities have changed since kids’
SIR Elton John will quit touring after “going out with a bang” on a 300date, round-the-world farewell that will last until 2021.
Confirming our online exclusive that his next tour would be his last, Elton, 71, yesterday told a press conference: “My priorities have changed in my life.”
He and husband David Furnish have two sons, Elijah, five, and Zachary, seven.
Elton said: “The children changed our lives. In 2015, David and I sat down with the school schedule and thought, ‘I don’t want to miss too much of this’.
“My priorities now are my children, my husband and my family. And I have been touring since I was 17. I thought the time is right to say thank you to all my fans around the world and say goodbye. I am not going to travel any more.”
The Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour will start in the US on September 8.
Elton said: “I always thought I would be on tour for ever, but once you have children your life changes. When I stop they will be 10 and eight and that’s a very important time in their lives.
“I love them so much and I don’t want them to miss me. I never thought I could love them as much as I do. I never thought I could be a father as I was too selfish. I don’t want to go out with a whimper, I want to go out with a bang and say thank you.”
The singer has been dogged by ill health in recent years.
Last April, he became “violently ill” with a bacterial infection during a flight home to the UK from Chile, and spent two nights in intensive care. He had to cancel the April and May dates in his Las Vegas residency as he recovered.
In 2012, he cancelled a number of shows as a result of a chest infection, and in 2013 was stricken with appendicitis.
Last night, Elton said: “I can’t physically do the travelling. I am 71. I want to enjoy my life. Life is all about change.”
Talking about what he would do after he stopped going on the road, he said he would take his kids to “soccer practice”.
He said: “I want them to learn to play well. I want to also see friends and spend time with my photography collection. “I am not worried about stopping.” Elton began performing aged 15 under his real name, Reggie Dwight, and he first toured in 1970.
His biggest hits, such as Rocket Man and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, were written with Bernie Taupin. Elton has sold more than 300 million records, but sales have declined in recent years.
I’ve been touring since I was 17. The time is right to say thank you and goodbye SIR ELTON JOHN SINGER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM TOURING