Well, that’s one way to go out with a bang. Sir Elton John seems to be winding down his touring days with yet another landmark to add to his glittering career.
His multi-year global tour, ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’, which began in September 2018, has now surpassed the landmark of being the high-grossing tour of all time, according to Billboard.
Raking in approximately $817.9 million from the 278 shows played so far, the takings have leapfrogged Ed Sheeran’s 2019 ‘The Divide Tour’, a 258-show run which grossed around $776.4 million (£630 million), which had overtaken U2’s ‘The 360 Tour’ ($736.4 million) that ran between June 2009 and July 2011.
In topping the touring billing, ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ has become the first tour to surpass the $800 million mark – which isn’t a bad pension fund for Sir Elton.
Sir Elton spent the period of 2018 to 2020 and the first quarter of last year playing arenas in North America, Europe, and Oceania, before advancing to stadiums in each continent for 2023, the tour’s final year.
In December, it was announced that the iconic performer would pay homage to his British fans by headlining The Pyramid Stage on Sunday at Glastonbury, closing both the festival’s proceedings and his record-breaking tour simultaneously.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be headlining the Pyramid Stage,” Sir Elton said when he was first announced.
“As the end of my Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour comes into view, there is no more fitting way to say goodbye to my British fans. They have been beyond brilliant and have supported me through all the highs and lows of my career.”
No doubt it’s set to be something of an emotional set, perhaps topping the great Sir Paul McCartney’s headline Glasto show last year.
