Sir Rod Stewart may be getting a call from his friend and rival Sir Elton John over his decision to embark on a Farewell Tour. Rod has just announced The Final Encore, marking more than six decades with his final tour, including UK dates next May. However, not long ago Rod criticised Elton for doing the same when he announced the massive Farewell Yellow Brick Road retirement tour, calling it "dishonest" and adding that it "stinks of selling tickets".
Past Comments Resurface
Rod, who referred to Elton as "she" due to a drag nickname gag, said: "I did email her [Elton] and said, 'What, again dear?' And I didn't hear anything back!" Although Rod says he won't be retiring from work entirely, he has admitted that touring will be over, which goes against some of his past comments.
Speaking about musicians staging major retirement announcements, he previously said: "Talking about retirement, I've never spoken about retirement, and if I do retire, I won't make an announcement. I'll just fade away. This whole big deal, 'Oh, I'm going to retire!', it stinks of selling tickets." When Cyndi Lauper suggested it was a good idea to build hype, he added: "It's dishonest. It's not rock and roll."
A History of Pranks and Spats
Sir Rod later admitted his comments were a bit spiteful towards Elton and regretted the remarks, and the two legends eventually patched things up. Rod and Elton go back decades, first meeting on the London blues scene in the mid-1960s, eventually giving one another camp nicknames: Phyllis (Rod) and Sharon (Elton).
They became notorious for pranking one another. When Rod launched his Blondes 'ave More Fun tour in the 1970s with massive promotional posters, Elton paid to put up signs directly across the street reading, "But Brunettes make more money". In the 1980s, Rod promoted a tour using giant football-shaped blimps in London, but Elton admitted hiring a sniper to shoot them down, causing one to land on a double-decker bus. Stewart later called John up angrily demanding to know what happened to his balloon.
Making Up and Moving On
In his 2019 memoir Me, Elton John dedicated an entire chapter to roasting Rod, writing that he didn't need a lecture on the "feral spirit of rock and roll" from someone who had spent the last decade "crooning his way through the Great American Songbook". The two completely stopped speaking for a couple of years. Rod admitted he sent several messages attempting to clear the air, but Elton remained distant.
They finally made up in January 2021, when Rod confirmed on The Harry Redknapp Show podcast that they had officially patched things up, comparing their spat to a "married couple" and saying that he truly loved Elton, who holds "no grudges". Rod will be hoping he can match some of the success of Elton's farewell tour, which sold 6 million tickets and grossed $939.1 million.
