‘I’ll make sure it’s worth the wait’: Elton John postpones farewell tour

Sir Elton John has announced that he will be postponing the European and UK dates of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. This is everything you need to know. Why has Elton John rescheduled his tour? On Twitter, Sir Elton posted a note explaining the situation. He wrote: “It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I am forced to reschedule the 2021 dates of my Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in Europe and the UK to 2023. “At the end of my summer break I fell awkwardly on a hard surface and have been in considerable pain and discomfort in my hip ever since. Despite intensive physio and specialist treatment, the pain has continued to get worse and is leading to increasing difficulties moving. “I have been advised to have an operation as soon as possible to get me back to full fitness and make sure there are no long term complications. I will be undertaking a program of intensive physiotherapy that will ensure a full recovery and a return to full mobility without pain. “I am going to complete the charitable Global Citizen event on 25th September as I don’t want to let the charity down. Being just five songs it’s a very different physical undertaking to the demands of playing for close to three hours every night on tour and travelling overnight between countries. “After this I will be having the operation to ensure the tour can get back on the road in January of 2022 in New Orleans. “I know how patient my incredible fans have been since Covid halted touring last year, and it breaks my heart to keep you waiting any longer. I completely feel your frustrations after the year we’ve had. “I promise you this - the shows will return to the road next year and I will make sure they are more than worth the wait.” What if I have tickets? Ticketholders for Sir Elton’s farewell tour will shortly receive new information about the rescheduled UK and European gigs. All original tickets should be honoured at the rescheduled shows. Ticketmaster, the official ticket seller for the tour, says that “as soon as the venue or promoter tells us that an event’s been cancelled or rescheduled, we’ll get to work letting you know about it”. It adds: “If your event is cancelled, you won’t need to do anything as we’ll refund your order automatically for you. “If your event is rescheduled, we’ll contact you regarding new dates and if tickets will be carried over.” What are the new tour dates? In the UK, he was scheduled to perform across 22 dates in UK arenas. Originally it was going to kick off with nine nights at the O2 Arena in London on 14 November. However, these performances will now begin in April 2023. There has been no official announcements about the new tour dates yet. This new announcement further postpones a tour which has already been postponed due to Covid-19. The tour, which Sir Elton has said will be his final tour ever, was originally announced in 2018 and was set to end in December 2020, but the pandemic forced a long stretch of shows to be rescheduled. When will The Lockdown sessions be released? At the beginning of the month, Sir Elton announced that he would be releasing a new album which was made during the Covid-19 lockdowns. The album, called The Lockdown Sessions, will feature contributions from the likes of Dua Lipa, Stevie Wonder, Lil Nas X, Stevie Nicks, Gorillaz, Nicki Minaj and more. In a statement, Sir Elton said: “Some of the recording sessions had to be done remotely, via Zoom, which I’d obviously never done before. “Some of the sessions were recorded under very stringent safety regulations: working with another artist, but separated by glass screens. “But all the tracks I worked on were really interesting and diverse, stuff that was completely different to anything I’m known for, stuff that took me out of my comfort zone into completely new territory. And I realised there was something weirdly familiar about working like this. “At the start of my career, in the late 60s, I worked as a session musician. Working with different artists during lockdown reminded me of that. I’d come full circle: I was a session musician again. And it was still a blast.” The Lockdown Sessions album is set to be released on 22 October 2021. The Elton John store says that if you pre-order the album, you could be in with a chance of winning a virtual meet and greet with Sir Elton. Orders must be placed by 11:59pm on 22 October 2021 in order to be eligible. Winners will be selected at random and contacted by email. The prize draw is open to all UK residents over 18, except from Northern Ireland. There are a number of different formats you can pre-order The Lockdown Sessions on, including The Lockdown Sessions CD and three cassette bundle for £35, The Lockdown Sessions vinyl for £29.99 and The Lockdown Sessions CD and mug bundle for £22.