After being forced to postpone the European and UK legs of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, Elton John chatted with NME about the reality of him actually ending his career as a live performer.

“It’s something I wanna finish,” he said. “I’m looking forward to doing it and going out on the high that we were on – we were an express train that hit the buffers. At the moment I finish supposedly in 2023, in the summer, by which time I’ll be 76 – and that’s it, baby."

“I can’t wait to do it and have a great time, and I can’t wait to finish and say, ‘No more – I’ve had enough,’” he added.

So what about the future? “I will do records and I’ll do my radio show, but as far as schlepping and doing shows? I’ve had enough applause. I wanna be with my family. I wanna be with my boys," John said bluntly. “I’ll still be creative, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life flying here, flying there. I can’t do any more than I’ve done now and save for the odd charity thing that may come up, that’s it for me.”

Last week, the pop icon released his star-studded new album, The Lockdown Sessions, which features collaborations with Miley Cyrus, Stevie Nicks, Lil Nas X and more.