Lynyrd Skynyrd is Second-Guessing Their Farewell Tour
Lynyrd Skynyrd sounds like they’re second-guessing saying goodbye to the road. Singer Johnny Van Zant was asked by Ultimate Classic Rock about Skynyrd announcing their farewell tour 2018. However, the…
Lynyrd Skynyrd sounds like they're second-guessing saying goodbye to the road.
Singer Johnny Van Zant was asked by Ultimate Classic Rock about Skynyrd announcing their farewell tour 2018. However, the band is still on the road, even following the death of Gary Rossington, guitarist and last surviving original Skynyrd member.
Van Zant explains that Skynyrd's final year of touring was going to be 2020. Of course, the pandemic led to an early end of the tour. After touring finally resumed about 15 months later, Skynyrd had to fulfill their previous show obligations. Van Zant notes how much the band missed performing to due the COVID hiatus. He said that, at the time, Rossington was a big reason why they changed their minds about the farewell tour.
"[Gary] was like, 'I don't want to sit at home. COVID retired me for 15 months and I didn't like it.' [Laughs] That's all he's ever done. That's all any of us have ever done," said Van Zant.
He added that maybe Skynyrd "were wrong" about saying farewell to the road and said, "I’ve come to a conclusion: Musicians never retire; they just play less shows." Van Zant further confirmed that the shows Skynyrd is performing now Rossington knew about before he died.
No one in Skynyrd should feel awkward about going back on their word about a "farewell tour." Plenty of other artists have done that before them. Keep scrolling for just nine examples.
Motley Crue has been dominating headlines thanks to them literally blowing up their "Cessation of Touring Agreement" and getting back together for a heavily rumored tour with Def Leppard and Poison.
Of course, the Crue isn't the first band to go back on their word on hanging 'em up. Here are just are eight other examples of artists that lied about retiring.
Motley Crue
Ian Gavan/Getty ImagesMotley Crue's "Final Tour" ran from July 2, 2014 and ended December 31, 2015. Nikki Sixx, however, did tell Rolling Stone 2014, "The only loophole is if all four band members agreed to do it, we could override our own contract. But we know that will never happen. There are people in this band who will refuse to ever do it again, and you’re talking to one of them. There is no amount of money that would ever make me do it again because I have such pride in how we’re ending it." Turns out maybe there is an amount of money that could make Sixx and the rest of the Crue change their minds.
KISS
Paul Kane/Getty ImagesWhile they are currently in the middle of their "End of the Road" Farewell Tour, KISS' first farewell tour ran from March 11, 2000 to April 13, 2001. While they eventually went back on their word in 2002, this first farewell tour was the last KISS tour to feature its original lineup.
Ozzy Osbourne
Larry Busacca/Getty ImagesLike KISS, Ozzy is in the middle of his second farewell tour. His first farewell tour, the "No More Tours" Tour, ran from June 9, 1992 to November 15, 1992. Ozzy would return to the road in 1995 with the appropriately titled "Retirement Sucks Tour."
Cher
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesCher infamously announced her "Living Proof: The Farewell Tour" would only last for 59 dates in North America. It eventually stretched into 325-date worldwide tour that ended in 2005. She would they return to the stage for a Las Vegas residency from 2008-2011 and then go back to touring for her "Dressed to Kill Tour" in 2014, another residency in from 2017-2020 and her "Here We Go Again Tour" that began in 2018 and currently stretched into 2020.
David Bowie
Jo Hale/Getty ImagesDavid Bowie didn't have a farewell tour, per se, but he claimed that his 1990 "Sound+Vision Tour" would be the final time he would perform his earlier hits live and would "retire" those songs after the tour. However, on his next outing, the 1995-96 "Outside Tour," songs like "The Man Who Sold the World," "Moonage Daydream" and "Under Pressure" were part of the setlist.
Tina Turner
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesTina Turner's 1990 "Foreign Affair: The Farewell Tour" featured 121 dates in Europe. However, shortly after the end of the tour, Turner told 'Jet,' "I've always thought this would be the final one but I must admit I now have mixed feelings. I'm the first woman to fill all these stadiums and the feeling from all those fans night after night was fantastic. I don't want to close that door completely. I'm going away for about a year and when I'm ready to return, I just hope the fans will want whatever I have to offer." She would return for four more tours. Her final tour was her "Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour" that ran from 2008 to 2009.
Jay-Z
Stephen Lovekin/Getty ImagesJay-Z advertised his 2003 album 'The Black Album' as his final LP before retiring and threw a massive "retirement party" concert at Madison Square Garden on November 25, 2003. He has since released five additional studio albums.
Barbra Streisand
Jeff Fusco/Getty ImagesStreisand's 2000 "Timeless" tour was supposed to be her farewell to live performing, but Babs just couldn't stay away from the stage. In addition to one-off benefit shows, Streisand has since embarked on two tours: 2006-2007's "Streisand" and 2012-2013's "Barbra Live."
Garth Brooks
Terry Wyatt/Getty ImagesBrooks retired from performing and recording in 2000 to spend more time with his daughters. He managed to stay away from the spotlight for some time but would return to the stage in 2009 for a Las Vegas residency at the Encore Theatre that would last through to 2014. Brooks would then launch a world tour that lasted from 2014-2017, a stadium tour and an intimate "Dive Bar" tour in 2019. Since coming out of retirement, Brooks has also released four studio albums.
