Five years after it began and over 300 shows later, Sir Elton John‘s Farewell Yellow Brick Road farewell tour has come to an end. John played his final show of the tour over the weekend at Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. During the set, Coldplay appeared via a live video-link to congratulate and send off John.
“From all of us here, from all the bands and artists you’ve helped and inspired, we love you so much,” frontman Chris Martin said. Martin praised John’s work with the Elton John AIDS Foundation, his advocacy of LGBTQ+ rights, his contributions to music, fashion, “sexiness, and love, and dressing gowns”, and long-term collaborator Bernie Taupin’s songwriting. “We love you so much, we’re going to miss you so much.”
Watch Coldplay’s Chris Martin Send Off Elton John
John’s 23-song setlist drew from across his decades-long career, including ‘Bennie and the Jets’, ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues’, ‘Tiny Dancer’, ‘Rocket Man’, ‘Someone Saved My Life Tonight’ and ‘Candle in the Wind’.
John also performed the likes of ‘Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding’, ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’, ‘The Bitch Is Back’, ‘I’m Still Standing’, ‘Crocodile Rock’, ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’ and ‘Your Song’. John closed out his encore, naturally, with ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’.
“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 five years,” John said in a statement following the concert.
“And every step of the way, my fans have been there. They have stuck with me, they have supported me, they have been patient, and they have kept turning out for every single last show. Tonight has been magical. I’m trying to process it, and 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 the fans and how much their support has humbled me – it will stay with me forever.”
John’s farewell tour began in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 2018. Altogether, he performed 333 shows as part of the tour, selling some 5.7 million tickets. Australian shows as part of the tour took place in late 2019 and early 2020, with John returning for encore performances early this year.
Further Reading
Elton John Review – Rocket Man Defies the Sydney Deluge for One Final Blastoff
Elton John And Britney Spears Release ‘Hold Me Closer’ Collaboration
