The singer is launching a 300 date final world tour in September 2018

Elton John is stepping away from touring after one final worldwide trek. The 70 year old singer made the announcement during a live press conference today (Wed, Jan 24th) from New York that was live-streamed on his website. He opened the show with an animated timeline which included himself as “Rocket Man” before appearing on stage and performing several songs in front of a live audience and making the announcement.

“I am not going to be touring anymore apart from the last tour which is going to start in September of this year, and it’ll be a global tour. It’s the last time I will be touring and traveling the world because my priorities have changed in my life,” he tells moderator Anderson Cooper about wanting to spend more time with his two children.

“I’ve had an amazing life. I’ve had an amazing career. I’ve been so incredibly lucky. My life have changed. The priorities in my life have changed. My priorities now are my children and my husband and my family. I’ve been touring since I was 17 with various bands and as Elton John in 1969 and I thought the time is right to say thank you to all my fans around the world globally and then, you know, to say goodbye and then just to have a breather. It doesn’t mean to say that I’m still not going to be creative, but I’m not going to travel anymore.”

He continues, “Well, to go around the world properly and to say goodbye to everybody in the countries I’m popular in, will take three years, probably.”

The Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour will kick off in Allentown, PA in September 2018 and run 300 dates through 2021. Dates through March 2019 are set for Canada and the United States before trekking to Europe in May and June 2019, Asia in November 2019, Australia in December 2019 into 2020, South America in March 2020, and returning to Europe and the UK in late 2020 before wrapping in North America in 2021.

John promises this to be his largest and best production to date. He has partnered with Gucci for the tour which will feature a variety of costumes, something he’s known for.

“I don’t want to go out with a whimper. I want to go out with a big bang,” the singer quips about the size of the tour.

The singer says despite not touring anymore, he still plans to continue music.

“When I say I’m stopping touring, I’m not stopping music. I will be hopefully making more records. I’ll be writing more musicals. I’ll be doing more exhibitions with photography. Mostly, I’ll be taking my kids to soccer academy which is the most important thing.”

The tour and today’s announcement have been in the planning stages since 2015, John states. Tickets on sale February 2nd via eltonjohn.com.

The iconic superstar teased the announcement earlier today, tweeting, “A wrinkle in time. Past meets present… You’ll finally see where the future lies..“ leading many publications to predict the announcement.

The shocking announcement comes less than a year after John fell “violently ill” from a rare bacterial infection he contracted during a South American tour stop. The singer spent two days in intensive care and 12 in the hospital which forced him to cancel a slew of shows. John says his health has no decision on the announcement as he still performed 96 shows total in 2017.

The tour will launch following the end of The Million Dollar Piano, his second critically-acclaimed Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The final 14 shows will occur in the Spring of 2018 with dates scheduled April 28th through May 19, 2018.