Elton John bids emotional farewell to touring career with final performance in record-setting tour

Elton John is grateful for an incredible career in music. The 76-year-old bid farewell after five decades of touring his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour." The tour has featured 330 shows and has been attended by more than six million fans across the globe. The final concert was set in Stockholm, Sweden.

It marked the legendary singer-songwriter also saying goodbye to his touring career after over 50 years. According to NPR, his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour" is considered the highest-grossing in Billboard Boxscore history. Last month, it became the first-ever tour to make more than $900 million.

Through the tour, the icon has performed some of his greatest music, such as "Tiny Dancer," "Bennie & The Jets," "Philadelphia Freedom," "Rocket Man" and "Candle in The Wind." Elton also paid an emotional tribute to his band and crew—some of whom have been touring with him for many years—and his fans for their support throughout the decades. "You have no idea what it means to me, your kindness. I've had the most wonderful career," he said. "How lucky am I to play music? But I wouldn't be sitting here and talking to you if it wasn't for you."

His "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour began in North America in 2018 and was supposed to end by 2021 but got pushed due to the pandemic. The award-winning musician recently shared a video montage on Instagram, captioning it, "What a journey this tour has been, and we find ourselves at the end of it. Tonight is the final night."

In 2021, the international pop sensation revealed that he wanted to retire to spend more time with his family. "Ten years ago, I was going to just tour and make records. And I had nothing planned for the rest of my life except making music and touring," he said. "And then we had two fabulous little boys. And then David, my husband, said, well, what do you want out of life now? Do you still want to tour? I said, no, I don't. As much as I love playing, I want to be with my boys now. I want to be there for them."

Last month, the 76-year-old gave his final UK performance while headlining the Glastonbury Festival. It is believed that over 100,000 people were in attendance for the icon's last UK gig. Taron Egerton, who played the music legend in his 2019 biopic "Rocketman," was also spotted at the festival. The icon, whose career in the music industry has spanned five decades, told all those watching: "I'm so happy to be here. I won't ever forget this. I never thought I would ever play Glastonbury and here I am. It's a very special and emotional night for me because it might be my last show ever in England, so I had better play well and I had better entertain you, you've been standing there so long and I really appreciate all the outfits and everything."