The Final Tour Farewells: 14 great musicians say goodbye to the road

"I'm not Cher," quipped John upon announcing his three-year, 300-date Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour. "Even though I like wearing her clothes — this is the end." While John's touring twilight is upon us, he's not going anywhere in the public consciousness anytime soon, with a biopic on his life — titled "Rocket Man" — still in production.

After revealing a Parkinson's disease diagnosis that shook the world to its core, the seemingly-always-touring Diamond pulled out of his final stretch of dates on his 50th-anniversary tour. "It is with great reluctance and disappointment that I announce my retirement from concert touring," he said in a statement to fans. "I have been so honored to bring my shows to the public for the past 50 years. My sincerest apologies to everyone who purchased tickets and were planning to come to the upcoming shows." He indicates he's still planning to work on other projects.

"I'm not retiring from the music business," The Lord of Darkness said when asked as to what inspired his most recent (and most final) trek. "I'm just not doing world tours anymore." While Ozzy himself will turn 70 by year's end, he hasn't ruled out potentially doing other smaller dates, just "anything but Coachella." Fair play, Ozzy, fair play.

At age 79, Kenny Rogers has endured himself to the world with decades of hits, memories and chicken. However, in April 2018, he announced that due to health issues, he wouldn't be able to complete the rest of his dates for his "Gambler's Last Deal" tour. "I didn't want to take forever to retire," Rogers said in a statement. "I've thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to say farewell to the fans over the course of the past two years on the Gambler's Last Deal tour. I could never properly thank them for the encouragement and support they've given me throughout my career and the happiness I've experienced as a result of that."

For those in the emo-punk scene, Max Bemis' Say Anything emerged out of nowhere with a pessimistic, self-deprecating style that was frequently married to amazing pop hooks. Bemis has been open about his personal battles and addictions before, but in a multipage statement released in August 2018, he revealed that he was "done being a touring musician," while also announcing he's probably queerer than most fans initially thought and that the group's pending 10th album was probably going to be its last.

Slayer, if anything, has never been short on self-aggrandizing. When it came to announcing its farewell, the band went full-puff, declaring that "the age of Slayer, one of the greatest thrash/ metal/punk bands of this or any age, is coming to an end." It later went on to say that "Slayer will do one last concert tour around the globe to thank their fans for all the support over the years." And fans have been eating up the thrash titans' final dates with ravenous, bloodthirsty glee.

There have been hits, there have been tragedies and there have been many memories of the Southern rock gods throughout the years. However, for Gary Rossington, the only surviving member of the original lineup, now seems as good a time as any to hang it all up. "I know we're going to take some time off after this farewell tour that's all planned, and then who knows," Rossington said. "I don't know if it's really ever gonna end." Expected guests on the tour include the likes of Kid Rock and The Marshall Tucker Band.

Although earlier in the year she referred to herself as a "retired beach bum" with "no CD" on the horizon, one of the most soulful voices to ever grace us noted she's going to be with her audience to "paint pictures together to last a lifetime." On top of her announcement, she was also honored at the 2018 BET Awards with a Lifetime Achievement statue.

Last year, Bey had already announced a series of final shows, having done an hourlong set at ONE Musicfest in Atlanta in September 2017. However, after being detained in South Africa for trying to leave on a questionable passport, Bey reached out to Kanye West to share a rather definitive message: "I'm retiring from the music recording industry as it is currently assembled today, and also from Hollywood, effective immediately. I'm releasing my final album this year. And that's that."

In March 2018, legendary folk icon Joan Baez revealed that she was putting out her first new album in nearly a decade — but the tour behind it was going to be her last. "I have to keep reminding myself that I am my age because I get on tour and I look at the schedule and it's the same one I had 15 or 20 years ago," she told Billboard. "I went through a period where I couldn't do three nights in a row, and I saw this amazing vocal therapist. And now, I can't do many of them, but I can do three nights in a row."

For the notorious Crüe, its final trip around the world was one marked with significant, campy events. First, there were all of the members signing a legally binding "cessation of touring agreement" to ensure they wouldn't tour again. Then, there was the very final night of the tour, where Tommy Lee's infamous "drum roller coaster" got stuck, leaving the rock star suspended in midair for several minutes. A fitting, Spinal Tap-esque way to end the legendary band's career.

"The Hip" is a Canadian rock institution at this point, but lead singer Gord Downie's diagnosis of terminal brain cancer made it clear that the band's 2016 tour behind its final album would, in fact, be the last time it got to be in front of its throngs of followers. The "A National Celebration" TV broadcast on CBC reached some 11 million viewers, its tour shattering records. A few solo projects from Gord made their way out to the world, but in October 2017, it was announced that Gord had died, leaving a hole in our hearts that may never truly be filled.

"We keep talking about what we may call a farewell tour, but based on the Kiss approach, that could go on for three to five years," guitarist Brad Whitford noted about the prospect of a "final" Aerosmith tour. The group's official website referred to it as a farewell tour, but Joe Perry himself remained somewhat skeptical, as he told Billboard: "Frankly, starting a tour that says 'the final tour' is OK, but to think there's going to be a last Aerosmith gig? That's a little tough for me to wrap my head around."

It started in 1975 with the "Ace in the Hole Band," but Strait has proved to be one of the lasting country traditionalists to still survive in the modern era. His final tour stretched throughout 2014, ending up with him selling out Dallas Cowboys' stadium for the last date. "It's a little bittersweet to know that some of these places, I'll never go back to, never play again," Strait said at a news conference in September. "It's sad for me, but I'm taking it all in and the crowd, they're giving it to me."