'Heartbroken' Elton John Pushes 2021 Tour Dates Back Two Years As He Prepares For Hip Operation
Sir Elton John has announced that he’s pushing back the rest of his European tour dates this year until 2023, as he awaits an operation on his hip.
Posting on Instagram on Thursday morning, the 74-year-old musician disclosed that he had fallen “awkwardly on a hard surface” over the summer, which has left him in “considerable pain and discomfort”.
As a result, Sir Elton is to have an operation on his hip “as soon as possible”, after which he will undergo “intensive physiotherapy”.
He wrote: “It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I am forced to reschedule the 2021 dates of my Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in Europe and the UK to 2023.
“At the end of the summer break I fell awkwardly on a hard surface and have been in considerable pain and discomfort in my hip ever since.
“Despite intensive physio and specialist treatment, the pain has continued to get worse and is leading to increasing difficulties moving.
“I have been advised to have an operation as soon as possible to get me back to full fitness and make sure there are no long-term complications. I will be undertaking a program of intensive physiotherapy that will ensure a full recovery and a return to full mobility without pain.”
Sir Elton first announced he was planning to retire from touring in 2018, with his extensive Goodbye Yellow Brick Road jaunt kicking off in September of that year.
The tour was originally supposed to come to an end in 2021, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic – and now this procedure on the Candle In The Wind singer’s hip – it’s now scheduled to go on until May 2023.