Names and faces
Elton John is retiring from the road after his forthcoming three-year global tour, capping nearly 50 years on stages around the world. He calls it a
“way to go out with a bang.” John said he “had a good run,” adding that he wanted to “leave people thinking, ‘I saw the last tour and it was fantastic.’” The 70-year-old singer, pianist and composer said he wanted to spend time with his family. His children will be 10 and 8 when the tour ends in 2021, and John said he hoped he might be able to take them to soccer practice. “My priorities now are my children and my husband and my family,” he said. “This is the end.” John made the announcement Wednesday at an event in New York in which he sat at a piano and performed “Tiny Dancer” and “I’m Still Standing.” He wore his signature glasses and a colorful suit jacket that read “Gucci Loves Elton.” His final tour — dubbed “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” — starts Sept. 8 in Allentown, Pa. It will consist of 300 shows in North America, Europe, Asia and South America. Tickets go on sale beginning Feb. 2. John said he decided on his retirement plans in 2015 in France: “I can’t physically do the traveling, and I don’t want to,” he said. John has suffered several medical setbacks of late, including a bacterial infection last year that he contracted during a South American tour and an E. coli bacterial infection in 2009. He’s also suffered appendicitis and has been fitted with a pacemaker. But on Wednesday he said he’s “in great health.”
Oprah Winfrey said she’s not interested in a presidential bid despite Democrats’ continuing buzz about the billionaire media icon. Winfrey told InStyle magazine in a newly published interview that she hears the encouragement but doesn’t “have the DNA” for a White House run. She said she’s “very secure and confident” in her life already. The 63-year-old is among the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the country and is one of the world’s most recognizable black women. The interview with InStyle’s Laura Brown took place several weeks before Winfrey gave a widely hailed speech at the Golden Globes awards. She focused her remarks on racial and gender equality, spawning the #Oprah2020 Twitter hashtag that trended for days. President Donald Trump weighed in on the possible contest in the days after the Golden Globes, telling reporters: “Yeah, I’d beat Oprah. Oprah would be a lot of fun. I know her very well … I like Oprah. I don’t think she’s gonna run.” The interview is the cover story for InStyle’s March edition, which features a smiling Winfrey