As he prepares to hang it all up – at least in a sense – Elton John is surely celebrating some good news that comes with sadness.
John is in the middle of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which he says is his last. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the trek grossed an incredible $817.9 million from 278 shows, making it the highest-grossing tour in Boxscore history.
The pianist surpasses a record previously set by Ed Sheeran, whose The Divide tour came to a halt after grossing $776.4 million. So far, no concert tour has crossed the $800 million mark.
The multi-talented musician announced the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour in 2018, and it’s been nothing short of a global phenomenon ever since.
There are expected to be 333 shows across nine different stages, which helps explain how the project can make so much money. The fact that John insisted that he not go on tour again surely has some fans shelling out the money to see him live once more.
The Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour started in Allentown, PA in September 2018 and has been running successfully ever since. John had to shelve the whole thing when the COVID pandemic hit, but she resumed once it was safe to do so.
John’s performance at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles was a nostalgic trip down memory lane, reminding fans of when he first performed there decades ago.
The live-streamed concert, which was streamed by Disney+, was a huge hit with fans who weren’t able to attend the tour in person. The pianist donned a replica of Dodger’s original and memorable sequined baseball uniform, and said goodbye to America just over a month ago.
The Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour may already be the most profitable tour of all time, but it’s not over yet. Billboard predicts that with dozens of other shows still playing, John’s latest outing could approach or even surpass the $900 million mark. If so, the company will also become the first in history to reach this sum.
Although John is retiring from touring, he does not generally retire.
In recent years he’s become a hitmaker again, scoring massive worldwide singles with Dua Lipa (“Cold Heart”) and Britney Spears (“Hold Me Closer”), both of which are electronic reworkings of his past. .
His last album The confinement sessions was a critical and commercial success and saw John collaborate with current stars like Nicki Minaj, Charlie Puth, Miley Cyrus and Lil Nas X.
