CNN —
The Rocket Man is retiring from the road.
Elton John performed what he says was the last show on the final tour of his career Saturday night.
Elton John performed his final show at the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Yui Mok/Press Association/AP
The iconic, award-winning musician took the stage for purportedly the last time ever as a touring artist in Stockholm, Sweden, according to his website.
In the caption for a video posted to his official Instagram Saturday, the British music legend wrote, “What a journey this tour has been and now we find ourselves at the end of it. Tonight is the final night.”
The video includes a clip from a 2018 interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper in which the musician announced his retirement from touring. “It’s the last time that I will be touring and traveling the world,” John says in the clip.
Singer Elton John performs in 1973. David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images John appears in one of his first publicity photos in 1968. The singer had officially changed his name to Elton John a year earlier after being born as Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Pinner, England, in 1947. The name was inspired by members of his early band, Bluesology, whose saxophone player was Elton Dean and lead singer was Long John Baldry. Val Wilmer/Redferns Elton John plays the piano in 1970, the year he launched his first world tour. Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images John appears in a 1973 documentary that detailed the production of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." Hit songs from that album included "Candle in the Wind," "Bennie and the Jets," "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" and the title track. REX Shutterstock/AP John and his songwriting collaborator, Bernie Taupin, hold gold records in 1973. Taupin has written the lyrics for many of John's songs over his career, and the two have worked together for decades. Michael Putland/Getty Images John and singer Rod Stewart have a bath at the stadium of Watford Football Club in 1973. John, a lifelong Watford fan, later owned the English soccer club. Today, one of the stadium's stands is named after him. Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Getty Images John is overwhelmed by multiple shots on goal while playing around at Watford's stadium in 1974. Michael Putland/Getty Images John gives a typical energetic performance in 1974. Some of the other hit songs he had by this time: "Tiny Dancer," "Levon," "Crocodile Rock" and "Rocket Man." Associated Press John appears on stage with John Lennon at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1974. Steve Morley/Redferns John plays the Pinball Wizard in the 1975 film "Tommy," which is based on The Who's album of the same name. Granamour Weems Collection/Alamy John reads some fan mail circa 1975. Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy John poses for a portrait circa 1975. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images John performs at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 1975. During his career, he has been nominated for 34 Grammy Awards and won five times. He also has an Academy Award and a Tony Award. Terry O'Neill/Getty Images John tips his hat after having a star dedicated to him on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1975. Jeff Robbins/AP John poses for a photo with Cher and Diana Ross in the mid-1970s. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images John performs at Earl's Court, a popular arena in London, in the late 1970s. Martyn Goddard/Corbis/Getty Images John appears on "The Muppet Show" in 1978. He performed four of his songs on the episode. Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection John waves from his car in 1978. Terry O'Neill/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Fans watch John embrace singer and friend Kiki Dee in 1978. The two had a No. 1 hit, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," in 1976. Evening Standard/Getty Images John stands in the bedroom of his home in Old Windsor, England, in 1978. Chalkie Davies/Getty Images John poses with his mother and stepfather while touring the Kremlin in Moscow in 1979. He was the first rock or pop star from the West to perform in the Soviet Union. Boris Yurchenko/AP John stands in Tiananmen Square while touring Beijing in 1983. Barry Lewis/Alamy John married German recording engineer Renate Blauel in 1984. They divorced in 1988. and John told Rolling Stone magazine that year he was "comfortable" being gay. He told the magazine in 1976 that he was bisexual. Patrick Riviere/Getty Images John performs in 1986. Time Life Pictures/DMI/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images John stands by the bed of AIDS patient Ryan White at a Florida hospital in 1990. Two years later, the singer established the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Taro Yamasaki//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images John, far left, sits at a table with other celebrities, including actress Kate Capshaw, singer Bruce Springsteen, actor Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg, at one of his foundation's parties in 1994. The party was held after the Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Kevin Mazur Archive 1/WireImage/Getty Images From left, Billy Joel, John and Sting perform at a benefit concert for the Rainforest Foundation in 1995. Joel and John toured together often during their careers. Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images John sings "Candle in the Wind" at Princess Diana's funeral in 1997. The tribute became one of the best-selling singles of all time. Proceeds were donated to charity. Anwar Hussein/Getty Images John and rapper Eminem performed Eminem's "Stan" at the Grammy Awards in 2001. Frank Micelotta/Getty Images John gives his final performance of "The Red Piano" in 2009. The show had been held in Las Vegas since 2004. In 2011, John started another Las Vegas residency, "The Million Dollar Piano." Ethan Miller/Getty Images John holds his son Zachary Jackson Levon in 2011. John and his longtime partner, David Furnish, had the baby through a surrogate. They later welcomed a second son to their family, Elijah Joseph Daniel. Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images Britain's Queen Elizabeth II shakes hands with John at her Diamond Jubilee Concert in 2012. In 1998, the Queen knighted John for his music and charity work. Dave Thompson/Pool/AFP/Getty Images John performs at the Diamond Jubilee Concert. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images John performs with Ed Sheeran at the 2013 Grammy Awards. They teamed up for Sheeran's song "The A Team." Kevin Winter/WireImage/Getty Images John and Furnish kiss at the Human Rights Campaign's National Dinner in 2014. They married in December of that year. Paul Morigi/Getty Images John meets with US Secretary of State John Kerry in 2014. The two talked about John's foundation as well as PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Alamy John, Furnish and their two boys pose for a photo in 2015. Michael Kovac/Getty Images for EJAF John joins talk-show host James Corden for a a little "carpool karaoke" in 2016. Darren Michaels//CBS/Getty Images John attends Vanity Fair's Oscars party in February 2017. Anthony Harvey/Getty Images John performs in Victoria, British Columbia, in March 2017. Andrew Chin/Getty Images John and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive to speak to a crowd in Paris in June 2019. John was being honored with France's highest civilian award. Lewis Joly/AFP/Getty Images John makes a surprise curtain call appearance in Sydney as he visits the cast of "Billy Elliot: The Musical" in November 2019. John did the music for the production. James D. Morgan/Getty Images for Billy Elliott The Musical Australia John and Taupin hold the Oscars they won for best original song in 2020. They won for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from the John biopic "Rocketman." Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images John performs in January 2022 during his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour. Erika Goldring/Getty Images US President Joe Biden, joined by first lady Jill Biden, presents John with the National Humanities Medal after a concert on the South Lawn of the White House in September 2022. The medal, according to the presentation, was to honor John "for moving our souls with his powerful voice and one of the defining song books of all time. An enduring icon and advocate with absolute courage, who found purpose to challenge convention, shatter stigma and advance the simple truth — that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect." Susan Walsh/AP Fans watch Elton John perform on stage during the Glastonbury Festival in Glastonbury, England on June 25. The artist has said this will be his last ever live show in the UK. Leon Neal/Getty Images The legendary Elton John Prev Next
The five-time Grammy winner’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour” kicked off in 2018 and was originally meant to end in 2021 but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The tour has been publicized as his last after more than five decades on the road.
The tour featured more than 300 shows and was attended by more than 6 million fans across the world, according to John’s Instagram video. The 76-year-old musician headlined the Glastonbury Festival as his final UK stop on his farewell tour.
During his 2018 interview with Cooper, John attributed his retirement from life on the road to his decision to focus on his family. The musician has two sons with husband David Furnish.
“We had children and had changed our lives and in 2015, we sat down with their school schedule and we said I’m going to miss too much of this,” he told Cooper at the time.
He said at the time that although he was done touring, he would continue working on new music.