Surrounded by emotional fans from around the globe, Elton John hailed them as his “lifeblood” as he gave his final farewell concert in Stockholm after more than 50 years of live performances.
“You know how much I like to play live. It’s been my lifeblood to play for you guys, and you’ve been absolutely magnificent,” he told the delighted audience at the arena in the Swedish capital.
Wearing a tailcoat accented with rhinestones and a red pair of his trademark large glasses, the 76-year-old pop superstar sat down at the piano shortly after 8pm to cheers to open his farewell show with one of his most popular songs, Bennie and the Jets.
Photo: AP
Playing for more than two hours, John interspersed the songs with moments when he would get up and leave the piano to thank not only his fans, but also his band and his crew, some of whom have been with him for more than 40 years.
“I want to pay tribute to these musicians... They’re really incredible, they’ve been with me so long, some of them, and they are the best, I tell you, the best,” he said.
Shortly after a rendition of Border Song which he dedicated to Aretha Franklin, John’s I’m Still Standing brought the 30,000 fans at the Tele2 Arena to their feet.
“It was amazing. I have no words right now because I haven’t processed all the show, but it was amazing,” said Anton Pohjonen, a 25-year-old bank worker from Finland.
Fifty-year-old Jeanie Kincer traveled from Kentucky for the show.
“I wanted to be here for the end because I was too young to be here in the beginning,” she said.
To mark the occasion, she was dressed in red shorts with braces and a red, yellow and brown T-shirt — almost the exact same outfit John wore for his first concert in Stockholm in 1971.
On his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour, John performed 330 concerts, crisscrossing Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Britain, before closing in Stockholm.
The tour has seen him perform in front of 6.25 million fans.
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