Elton John is today the first headline act to be announced for the 2023 Glastonbury Festival.
Elton’s headline show on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday 25th June will bring down the curtain on the 2023 Festival. It will also mark the final ever U.K. show before the end of The Rocket Man’s acclaimed, record breaking Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. The date is sure to be a truly fitting celebration of Elton’s enduring impact across all aspects of popular culture over the past 50 years, and there is no more suitable way of wishing an emotional farewell to his British fans. The headline performance will be only his second ever UK festival appearance.
Speaking today, Elton said: ‘I couldn’t be more excited to be headlining the Pyramid Stage. As the end of my Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour comes into view, there is no more fitting way to say goodbye to my British fans. They have been beyond brilliant, and have supported me through all the highs and lows of my career.
Every week I speak to new artists on my radio show and Glastonbury is often cited as a pivotal moment in launching their careers - the festival’s genuine, enthusiastic support for the best emerging talent is something I’ve long admired. I’ve been talking to Emily Eavis about it over the last few weeks and I can’t wait to embrace the spirit of the greatest festival in the world. It’s going to be incredibly emotional.”
Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis says: “It gives me enormous pleasure to let you know that the one and only Elton John will be making his first ever Glastonbury appearance, headlining the Pyramid Stage on the Sunday night next year. This will be the final UK show of Elton's last ever tour, so we will be closing the Festival and marking this huge moment in both of our histories with the mother of all send offs. We are so very happy to finally bring the Rocket Man to Worthy Farm!”
Starting in September 2018 the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour marks the end of touring for Elton after more than 50 years on the road. In 2019 it was named Billboard's Top Rock Tour and Pollstar’s Major Tour Of The Year. November saw Elton’s last U.S. shows, as he brought down the curtain on his life on the road in America with three sensational shows at LA’s Dodger Stadium. Across his career, Elton has delivered more than 4,000 performances in more than 80 countries since launching his first tour in 1970.
Elton’s career achievements to date are unsurpassed in their breadth and longevity. Elton is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time. In the UK and US charts alone he has 1 diamond, 32 platinum or multi-platinum, and 21 gold albums as well as over 70 Top 40 hits. He has sold more than 300 million records worldwide.
He holds the record for the biggest-selling single of all time, “Candle in the Wind 1997”, which sold over 33 million copies. Released in 2017 ‘Diamonds’ the Ultimate Greatest Hits album, became Elton’s 40th UK Top 40 album and has spent over 200 consecutive weeks in the top 75 of the UK album charts, over 110 of these in the top 20, and in August 2022 surpassed the threshold for 1 million combined chart unites in the UK. This release celebrated 50 years of his songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin. August 2018 saw Elton named as the most successful male solo artist in Billboard Hot 100 chart history. At present, he has logged 70 Billboard Hot 100 entries, including nine No. 1s and 28 Top 10s.
Elton announced the ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour, presented by Alliance for Lifetime Income, at New York’s Gotham Hall in January 2018. Encompassing 5 continents, and over 350 dates, this 5-year-long tour started in September 2018 and marks his retirement from touring after more than 50 years on the road. In 2019 it was named Billboard's Top Rock Tour and Pollstar’s Major Tour Of The Year. To date, Elton has delivered more than 4,000 performances in more than 80 countries since launching his first tour in 1970. 2019 also saw the release of ‘Rocketman’ and global bestselling autobiography, ‘ME’. An epic fantasy musical motion picture of Elton’s life, 'Rocketman' has been a commercial and critical hit, taking close to $200m at the box office. It has won an Oscar, two Golden Globe Awards and a Critics’ Choice Award and garnered BAFTA nominations. Its soundtrack was also nominated for a GRAMMY Award.
Among the many awards and honours bestowed upon him are six GRAMMYs, including a GRAMMY Legend award, a Tony and two Oscars, a Best British Male Artist BRIT Award, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Kennedy Center Honor, Legend of Live Award, 13 Ivor Novello Awards between 1973 and 2001 and a knighthood from HM Queen Elizabeth II for “services to music and charitable services”. Most recently, Elton was awarded the 2021 iHeartRadio “Golden Icon” Award in recognition of his incredible influence on music and pop culture. In February 2022, he topped the inaugural Pollstar Artist Power Index, a weekly rank of the world’s most popular artists based on streaming, touring, airplay, and social media metrics.
In 1992, Elton established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which today is one of the leading non-profit HIV/AIDS organisations and has raised over $515 million to date in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. In June 2019 President Emmanuel Macron presented Elton the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest award, for his lifetime contribution to the arts and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Elton was awarded the Companion of Honor in the 2021 New Year Honors list. The highest acknowledgement in the list, Elton became one of only 64 people to hold the honor. September 2019 saw The Royal Mail issue a set of 12 stamps as a tribute to Elton being one of the most popular and enduring music artists of all time. Elton was only the second individual music artist to be featured in a dedicated stamp issue. In July 2020 the Royal Mint released an Elton John commemorative coin, the second in their music legends series to celebrate 'one of the most successful and enduring artists of all time'. Always a tireless champion of new artists, Elton has been a leading industry voice in lobbying the government for young artists visa-free touring rights in Europe post Brexit.
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