Farewell Yellow Brick Road
Farewell Yellow Brick Road was the forty-ninth concert tour by English musician Elton John. It began in Allentown, Pennsylvania, US, on 8 September 2018, and ended in Stockholm, Sweden, on 8 July 2023. It was intended to be John's final tour and consisted of 330 concerts worldwide.[1] The tour's name and its poster reference John's 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
Start date
8 September 2018
8 July 2023
9
330 (including 2 festival shows)
6.1 million
$939.1 million
According to Billboard, the tour has grossed $939.1 million from 328 shows,[2] making it the second highest-grossing tour of all time.
Commercial performance[edit]
John announced the farewell tour in January 2018 with arena legs in both North America and Europe, to begin in Pennsylvania in September 2018.[17] By the end of the first leg of the tour in North American arenas, on 18 March 2019, it had grossed over $125 million[18] and won a Billboard Music Award in the category Top Rock Tour.[19]
The tour's first three North American legs combined to $268.2 million over 116 shows, while his North American stadium run from July – Nov. 2022 brought in $222.1 million across 33 shows.[20] The tour's 2019 European arena leg grossed $49.9 million, while the 2022 European stadium leg grossed $69.2 million in 2022, resulting in a combined worldwide total of $749.9 million from 5 million tickets sold by November 2022.[21]
In January 2023, the Oceania leg grossed $40.9 million and sold 242,000 tickets.[22] In total, the Australia & NZ shows in 2020 & 2023 have sold 875,000 tickets alone.[23] By the end of the Oceania stadium leg in January 2023, Billboard reported that the tour has grossed $817.9 million from 278 shows and over 5.3 million tickets sold,[24] making it the highest-grossing tour of all-time after surpassing the previous record-holder, Ed Sheeran's ÷ Tour at $776.2 million. It became the first tour in history to surpass $800 million, and $900 million.
By the final show in July 2023, the tour surpassed $939.1 million in gross and 6.1 million ticket sales, extending the record for highest-grossing tour in history.[25]
Recordings[edit]
On 30 May 2018, it was announced that Elton John had partnered with Peex to personalise the volume for fans' concert experiences, plus recording the show to relive it.[26][27]
On 18 May 2022, Disney Original Documentary and Disney+ announced that John's November 2022 shows at Dodger Stadium would be recorded for a documentary titled Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances And the Years That Made His Legend, directed by R.J. Cutler and David Furnish.[28]
Before that, the Dodger Stadium concert on 20 November 2022 was livestreamed on Disney+ as Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium. That concert featured guest appearances by Brandi Carlile, Kiki Dee and Dua Lipa. The recording would go on to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) at the 75th ceremony in 2024, allowing John to attain EGOT status.[29]
Elton's Glastonbury set on 25 June was broadcast on BBC One and BBC Radio 2.