Sir Elton John is making an announcement about his future career at a press conference on Wednesday (January 24), with increasing speculation that he could be retiring from touring.
The singer’s official website features the statement: ‘I’ve finally decided my future lies…’ along with a clock counting down to the announcement, at 5.30pm UK time.
It’s believed Sir Elton will reveal plans for a new project after his Las Vegas residency, which is due to run until May.
However, speculation surrounding a retirement announcement has been growing since The Mirror reported Sir Elton, who turned 70 last March, is expected to confirm his final world tour during the press call.
His representatives have declined to comment on the speculation ahead of today’s press conference, BBC News reports.
Last April, the award-winning musician was forced to cancel all of his April and May performances of his Million Dollar Piano stage show while he recovered from an illness.
Sir Elton’s representative explained that the star had contracted a ‘harmful and unusual bacterial infection’ on a recent visit to South America.
In November, David Furnish also hinted that his husband was aiming to take things relatively easy this year.
‘He’s going to wind down his residency in Las Vegas, so he’s got another run in February and then another run in May,’ Furnish said in an interview with Music Week.
‘We’re going to be shooting a live action musical fantasy version of Elton’s life story called Rocket Man, that’s going to go into production next year.
‘I think he feels he needs to take a breather, he needs to step back and take a pause.’
However, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be disappearing from the limelight altogether.
Sir Elton is scheduled to perform at the 2018 Grammys this Sunday, and it has recently been reported that he and Beyoncé are reportedly working on new versions of The Lion King songs for the upcoming remake. He’s also busy bringing The Devil Wears Prada to Broadway.
Given that the music icon has been performing since 1963, you can’t blame him for pencilling in some downtime.
