Elton John: eccentric hit guarantor says goodbye to the concert stage

Shrill stage outfits, eccentric appearance and a lot of catchy tunes – this mixture has made Elton John a star. At the beginning of 2018 he announced his last tour ever – five years later it will end with a concert in Stockholm on Saturday. However, the 76-year-old will probably not retire completely. He has already announced a new album for the fall.

John’s probably last concert in his native Great Britain is already behind him. At the end of June he appeared as the final act of the legendary Glastonbury Festival – and gave everything in the two-hour performance. The veteran star also delighted his fans with encores and a lot of fervor at other concerts on his farewell tour.

With more than 300 million albums sold, Elton John is one of the most successful pop musicians of all time. The singer, who was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in the affluent London district of Pinner, began his music career very early. He started playing the piano at the age of three, and at eleven he received a scholarship to the famous London music school, the Royal Academy of Music.

Errand boy for music publishing

As a teenager, John worked as an errand boy for a music publisher during the day and had his first performances in the evenings. A record company then coincidentally brought John together with the lyricist Bernie Taupin in 1967, the two had independently responded to an advertisement from the company. This collaboration helped John achieve his breakthrough.

Between 1970 and 1976 the team churned out hits including “Your Song”, “Rocket Man”, “Crocodile Rock”, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, from which the name derives from his farewell tour “Farewell Yellow Brick Road”.

Also unforgettable is “Candle in the Wind” – in the version he sang in 1997 at the funeral for his close friend Princess Diana. The single sold 33 million copies.

A farewell in installments

At the age of 70, John finally decided to say goodbye to the stage in installments. This was preceded by a dangerous bacterial infection in April 2017.

The farewell tour around the world was supposed to last until 2021. Because of the corona pandemic, many concert dates had to be postponed. After all, John used the pandemic for a new album called The Lockdown Sessions, for which he collaborated with much younger stars like Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj.

In September 2021, the singer announced that he had to have hip surgery due to a fall and that he would be out for several months. At the end of January 2022 he finally had to cancel several US concerts due to a corona infection.

priorities changed

“My priorities have changed,” John justified his gradual farewell to the stage in 2018. He wants more time for family life. John has been married to Canadian filmmaker David Furnish since 2014, with whom he was in a long-term relationship. The couple have two sons, born to a surrogate in 2010 and 2013.

But the superstar’s life wasn’t always so happy. For many years he battled drug addiction, alcoholism and bulimia. In 1987, the singer had to have an operation on his vocal cords. His marriage to German audio engineer Renate Blauel broke up in 1988.

He managed to turn things around in 1990 with a rehab. Breaking the addiction “was the most important thing I’ve ever done,” said John, who eventually also came out as gay.

After his close friend Freddie Mercury, the Queen frontman, died of AIDS, John became involved in the fight against the disease, raising enormous amounts of money. For this and for his musical merits, the then British Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 1998.

John cites his love for music – and his fans – as what drives him. At the Glastonbury Festival, he thanked them “for 52 years of incredible love and loyalty.” He will never forget his fans: “You are in my head, my heart and my soul.”