“I want to spend time with my family as I will be 76 next year,” he said.
LOS ANGELES — Forty-eight years after taking the stage at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles as the world’s biggest pop star in a sequined baseball uniform, Elton John took to the same stage Sunday night wearing a bedazzled Dodgers bathrobe. , a uniform. More suitable for a 75-year-old person on the verge of retirement.
The crowd of more than 50,000 roared into what John says will be his last North American concert.
“I want to spend time with my family as I will be 76 next year,” he said.
She hugged and kissed her husband, David Furnish, while her two sons, Zachary, 11, and Elijah, 9, wearing matching Dodgers jackets emblazoned with “Elton” on the back, cheered to the crowd. waved
John then broke into “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” the inevitable final song that gave the “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” tour its name.
A crowd full of rocket men and rocket women, blue jean babies and L.A. ladies, many all ages but plenty in their 20s and 30s and 40s, they rocked out during songs like “Rocket Man.” Sung and sang the same way during the two-hour show. “And” Tiny Dancer. Some wiped away tears.
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Many wore their own sequins and spangles, sparkling glasses, top hats, feather boas, and in some cases, Donald Duck suits, representing the stages of John’s 55-year career.
“Thank you all for dressing up,” said John, “I am so happy when you wear the most wonderful costumes.”
When that last song ended, John stripped to reveal another retirement outfit, a green and red tracksuit, and climbed into a small, clean elevator that lifted him to an opening in the background. took He can then be seen on a large video screen walking into the distance on a yellow brick road.
Many others joined John on this occasion.
Kiki D took the stage to sing her duet “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.”
“In 1975, this woman was here with me, and we sang this song,” John said, bringing out the Dee. “I asked him to come and recreate that incredible moment.”
John jumped from his usual place at the keyboard, grabbed the mic and sang and danced with Dee as his rehearsal piano player, Adam Chester, took the keys in his place.
John played “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” in tribute to four bandmates who died during his career, and after the first verse brought out another guest, “Ladies and gentlemen, Brandy Carlyle!”
The moment was an unspoken tribute to another late collaborator, George Michael, who had also duetted with John on a similar song in 1991.
Carlyle, who was central to Joni Mitchell. In his recent return to the stage, he wore his Dodger-themed sparkly suit. He bailed out his verses and “Can you believe it?!” In front of the crowd as John put his arm around her and was drenched in applause.
A drum machine blared as Dua Lipa, in a black dress that contrasted with the glitter shining on everyone else, came out for the first encore, “Cold Heart,” her 2021 hit with John.
“I can’t tell you what it feels like to be 75 years old and have the No. 1 record around the world,” John later said. “And that was my first hit, 52 years ago.”
He began playing piano chords and sang, “It’s a little funny, this feeling inside,” the opening line of 1970’s “Your Song.”
“That was your song, Los Angeles!” he shouted later.
About two hours earlier, after taking the stage in a tuxedo with sequins that flared into a flame design and opening the concert with “Benny and the Jets,” he explained the importance of the city to his music.
“Well, it’s a very special night for me, a very emotional night for me, and it’s been a long journey, and I first came here in 1970 in Los Angeles, America, and I opened a club. had played. called a troubadour.”
The concert, which aired live on Disney+, was the last of a three-night stand at the stadium (and his 103rd show in the L.A. area, he told the crowd). The farewell Yellow Brick Road tour began in September 2018 with the first of more than 300 scheduled dates. It was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic and resumed in 2021.
In January, John goes to Australia and New Zealand, then to the UK and Europe. He’s scheduled to end up in Sweden in July, though he’s made it clear he’s only traveling, not making music.
Many of his backers have been in, or very close to, his band since the beginning, including Nigel Olson, his drummer since 1969, and his guitarist since 1971, Davy Johnstone, who is 71. Omar stood at the front of the stage and led the band through a stunning version of “Saturday Night’s All Right for Fighting.”
John also provided a rare glimpse on stage of an even longer-time collaborator, the man who wrote most of the words the crowd sang along to all night, songwriter Bernie Taupin.
“We’ve been writing together now since 1967,” John said as he hugged Toppan, who couldn’t have been more at odds with his writing partner with his bald head and simple, earth-colored coat. “We still love each other more than we ever did before.”