Three and a half years after Elton John announced his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road: The Final Tour,” after an unavoidable pandemic delay, he has finally unveiled the closing stadium dates of that tour. It will make a final lap across Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand next year after the conclusion of the arena dates rescheduled from 2020. The rescheduled 2020 dates begin in Germany on Sept. 1 and cover North America from January to April 2022.
The final stretch will kick off on May 27, 2022 in Germany, then move to North America, beginning in Philadelphia in July, and will wrap in November with a pair of dates at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the site of an iconic Elton performance some 47 years earlier. 2023 kicks off with two shows in Auckland New Zealand on January 27 and 28, followed by soon-to-be-announced dates in Australia before the tour formally concludes there later that year. The tour will end nearly five years after its opening date in Allentown, Pennsylvania on September 8, 2018.
The full list of newly announced dates is below; see the rescheduled 2020 dates here.
Announcing the final dates, Elton John said, “Hello, all you wonderful fans out there. I’m coming to you today with an announcement I’ve been working towards for, well, all my life: the shows that I announce today will be my final tour dates ever in North America and Europe. I’m going to go out in the biggest possible way, performing at my very best, with the most spectacular production I’ve ever had, playing in places that have meant so much to me throughout my career. Whether it’s next summer in Frankfurt or at the legendary Dodger Stadium for the grand finale in the United States, I can’t wait to see you all on the road one last time. This has been an incredible tour so far, full of the most amazing highs, and I look forward to making more wonderful memories with you at these final shows. To all my friends down under, We’ll be seeing you too. Thank you and I look forward to seeing you in your town.”
The show is a crowd-pleasing tour de force of his biggest hits, designed to tug at the audience’s heartstrings as well as Elton’s own. Variety, reviewing the tour’s 70th show in New York in March of 2019, wrote: “He drops in enough deep cuts to keep the musicians and veteran fans on their toes (the second song he played was the 1973 deep cut “All the Girls Love Alice”), yet the set was so packed with hits that he’d reeled off “Bennie and the Jets,” “Tiny Dancer,” “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues,” “Border Song” and “Philadelphia Freedom” in the first half hour, and he’d barely scraped the surface.”
While this may be his final tour, it seems unlikely that it marks the end of Elton’s career as a performer — an irrepressible showman and die-hard music fan (who manages to host a remarkably contemporary weekly radio show, with an emphasis on new artists, on Apple Music 1), he will probably play spot dates and make television and other appearances for as long as he feels able.
For the US, Canada and UK dates, American Express Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public. Presale details are included in the tour routing below.
Public on-sales begin Tuesday, June 29 in Europe and Wednesday, June 30 in North America.
Ahead of the stadium run, Elton will mark his return to the stage this Fall in Europe on September 1 at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Berlin, then later to North America on January 19, 2022 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
Elton John tour
ELTON JOHN FAREWELL YELLOW BRICK ROAD THE FINAL TOUR– EUROPEAN DATES
*For UK dates, Amex Presale begins Thursday, June 24 at 10am BST through Tuesday, June 29 at 10pm BST*
Friday, May 27, 2022 Frankfurt, Germany Deutsche Bank Park FKA Commerzbank-Arena
Sunday, May 29, 2022 Leipzig, Germany Red Bull Arena
Saturday, June 4, 2022 Milan, Italy San Siro Stadium
Tuesday, June 7, 2022 Horsens, Denmark CASA Arena Horsens
Thursday, June 9, 2022 Arnhem, Netherlands GelreDome
Saturday, June 11, 2022 Paris, France La Defense Arena
Wednesday, June 15, 2022 Norwich, UK Carrow Road
Friday, June 17, 2022 Liverpool, UK Anfield
Sunday, June 19, 2022 Sunderland, UK Stadium of Light
Wednesday, June 22, 2022 Bristol, UK Ashton Gate Stadium
Wednesday, June 29, 2022 Swansea, UK Liberty Stadium
ELTON JOHN FAREWELL YELLOW BRICK ROAD THE FINAL TOUR– NORTH AMERICAN DATES
*For US & Canada, the Amex Presale begins Wednesday, June 23 at noon local time through Tuesday, June 29 at 10pm local time.*
Friday, July 15, 2022 Philadelphia, PA Citizens Bank Park
Monday, July 18, 2022 Detroit, MI Comerica Park
Saturday, July 23, 2022 East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium
Thursday, July 28, 2022 Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium
Saturday, July 30, 2022 Cleveland, OH Progressive Field
Friday, August 5, 2022 Chicago, IL Soldier Field
Wednesday, September 7, 2022 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre
Saturday, September 10, 2022 Syracuse, NY Carrier Dome
Friday, September 16, 2022 Pittsburgh, PA PNC Park
Sunday, September 18, 2022 Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium
Thursday, September 22, 2022 Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Saturday, September 24, 2022 Washington, DC Nationals Park
Friday, September 30, 2022 Arlington, TX Globe Life Field
Sunday, October 2, 2022 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium
Friday, October 21, 2022 Vancouver, BC BC Place
Saturday, October 29, 2022 San Antonio, TX Alamodome
Friday, November 4, 2022 Houston, TX Minute Maid Park
Saturday, November 12, 2022 Phoenix, AZ Chase Field
Saturday, November 19, 2022 Los Angeles, CA Dodgers Stadium
Sunday, November 20, 2022 Los Angeles, CA Dodgers Stadium