Elton John promises that his ongoing “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour will indeed be his last road trek — but not necessarily his retirement from music. The “Rocket Man” told Music Week, “I can tell you now that this is it. I will not be devoid of music but as far as schlepping around the world doing shows, I don’t want to do it anymore. I’ve done it since I was 17.”
Regarding the British music charts representing the past, present and future, Elton said, “It’s lovely to see Kate Bush at Number One, but there’s not many good records in the Top 20. And the albums chart is full of things like me, ABBA and Queen. The odd thing comes through, like Sam Fender or Harry Styles, or you get a new artist coming in at Number Three and then disappearing to 80-something. It’s depressing – there are a lot of good albums that deserve to be in the albums chart. . . What I want to know is why aren’t they there? Because of people like me!”
Elton John's musical director and longtime guitarist, Davey Johnstone, told us that before quitting the road for good, Elton has long been considering fitting in a few rarities gigs for the die-hard fans. Johnstone explained that what the uber-fans want is different from what the vast majority of concert-goers are paying to see: “Maybe, let's say, 10 percent hardcore fans who think that the tour should be deep cuts and stuff we never heard. But, y'see that's so unrealistic, because as much as I love playin' these songs and listening to them, it's not what your average guy wants.”
