Now 78, Elton John has been living mostly out of the spotlight since the end of his record-breaking Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour – a moment he once described as his chance to “go out in a blaze of glory.” The emotional admission came during a wide-ranging Music Week interview in 2022, when Elton sat down with his husband and manager David Furnish and Rocket Entertainment’s Rachael Paley.

At the time, he had just turned 75 and was in the middle of a triumphant late-career chapter that saw him reach new audiences, break streaming records, and headline massive shows across the world.

“I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life on stage,” he reflected then. “I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, and [David] has done that for me.” It was a striking statement from an artist who had once sworn he’d “die on stage.” In fact, it was Furnish who convinced him in 2015 to map out a structured plan to step away from constant touring, after decades on the road.

The couple sat down while on holiday in Nice and devised a five-year strategy that would allow Elton to retire from live performance while preserving – and even amplifying – his cultural relevance.

That plan would eventually transform into one of the most successful farewell tours in music history, spanning more than 300 shows across five continents and culminating in a historic final night at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 2022.

What made Elton’s farewell different was its sense of intentionality. After spending two years at home during the Covid lockdowns with their sons, he realised he didn’t want to keep touring indefinitely. He was still creatively energised – regularly collaborating with new artists like Rina Sawayama and Glass Animals – but the endless travel no longer appealed.

“What David has done is keep me revitalised,” Elton said. “Usually artists peter out. I didn’t want that.”

By the time he played his final UK stadium dates in 2023, Elton had not only solidified his legacy but also introduced his music to a new generation through biopics, chart hits, curated playlists and even playful cameos in films and adverts. As Furnish put it, “Elton’s been a bit like an avatar his entire life – throwing things on and off, changing and moving forward.”

Today, Elton spends most of his time between his homes in Windsor and the south of France, enjoying a quieter routine with Furnish and their children. He still occasionally records with younger artists and champions new talent through his Apple Music show, but his days of “schlepping around the world doing shows,” as he put it, are behind him.

So when recent images surfaced of the star moving slowly on a yacht during his August summer break, fans understandably expressed concern.

Over the past two decades, John has undergone hip and knee replacements, survived prostate cancer and a life-threatening infection, and most recently revealed he is suffering from severe vision loss after contracting an eye infection during a 2024 holiday in the South of France, according to Hello magazine.

Though he has never been one to dwell publicly on mortality, Elton has always been clear-eyed about the future. In 2022, he was still brimming with excitement for the unknown: “The best thing about life is that you never know what brilliance is round the corner,” he mused.