Elton John Stops Traffic in NYC for Final US Performance

He played one song at unveiling of Saks Fifth Avenue's holiday window
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 24, 2022 1:56 PM CST
Elton John's Final US Performance Was on NYC Street
Elton John arrives at the Saks Fifth Avenue's holiday windows and light show unveiling in association with The Elton John AIDS Foundation's Rocket Fund on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, in New York.   (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

The last night of Elton John's three-night run at Dodger Stadium was billed as his last-ever US performance—but the Sunday night gig was followed by a final performance on a New York City street. In what the Washington Post calls "a curious and minor epilogue to his grand adieu," traffic was stopped on Fifth Avenue on Tuesday night as John appeared to play his hit "Your Song" at the unveiling of Saks Fifth Avenue's holiday window. A grand piano was wheeled out at 7pm for the surprise performance and the 75-year-old singer arrived two minutes later on a golf cart decorated with light-up stars. He was joined by his husband, David Furnish, and their two sons, ages 9 and 11.

"It’s one song because we can’t close Fifth Avenue down for very long or we’re going to have a lot of angry New Yorkers," Furnish tells the Post. He says John chose "Your Song" because it was his first US hit. The one-song performance was the main event at the annual unveiling, Variety reports. Saks' partnership with the Elton John AIDS Foundation this year includes a dedicated window display and a $1 million donation to the foundation's Rocket Fund. John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road goodbye tour, which was interrupted by the pandemic, will resume in January with dates in Australia and New Zealand.

After that, it will be Europe, with the final concert scheduled for July 8 in Stockholm, Sweden. Furnish tells the Post that while John, who will 76 when the tour ends, loves performing live, he "finds the travel really hard and he finds being away from his family incredibly hard. And, you know, our boys are going to be 10 and 12 and they are getting to the age where we feel they need us more than ever." He says that while John hasn't ruled out playing the occasional charity event or even a series of concerts in a single theater in the future, a Las Vegas residency is "off the table." (More Elton John stories.)

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