After more than 50 years, Elton John’s final 5-word announcement is breaking hearts everywhere

Unless you’ve been living under a fairly large rock, you’ll be all too aware than Elton John is calling time on the touring aspect of his long and glittering career.

The Rocket Man embarked on his goodbye tour “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” back in 2018, but it was only this past Saturday that it was brought to its definitive, stunning end.

As per John’s website, his performance at the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Sweden on July 8 was his last ever as a touring artist, though the legendary artist did hint that he could feature again in some capacity in the future.

According to CNN, the “Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour” was initially scheduled to end in 2021, but plans were curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead, Saturday marked the culmination of a career that has seen John actively touring over the course of five decades. In its entirety, this tour featured in excess of a whopping 300 shows. If John’s website is to be believed, the shows were watched by more than 6 million people around the world.

During a 2018 interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, John revealed that his decision to retire from touring came largely as a result of his wish to spend more time with his family; husband David Furnish and the couple’s two sons.

“We had children and had changed our lives and in 2015, we sat down with their school schedule and we said I’m going to miss too much of this,” the Your Song star told Cooper.

Naturally, John’s final ever tour date at the weekend was an emotional occasion, bringing an end to an aspect of one of the most successful careers in music history.

In a video posted to Elton’s Instagram on Saturday – ahead of the aforementioned show in Stockholm – a section of the singer’s interview with Cooper was played. John wrote in the caption:

“What a journey this tour has been and now we find ourselves at the end of it. Tonight is the final night.”

Following the culmination of his show in Stockholm, Elton told fans they will remain in his “head, heart and soul”. He also reiterated his stance that he will “never be touring again”, though did add that he might do a “one-off thing” at some point in the future.