Farewell tours have been common over the years, but as common as they are, musicians also go back on their word. There are plenty of musicians who lied about retirement. Here are just 10 examples from the rock world and beyond.
The B-52’s
The B-52’s are the latest act to go back on their retirement. In April 2022, the band announced their farewell tour, which was dubbed their “Final Tour Ever of Planet Earth.” They found a bit of a loophole, as far as touring goes,. However, three years later in June 2025, The B-52’s announced they would be joining DEVO on a co-headlining tour. (And on planet Earth, no less!)
Fred Schneider told about the decision to hit the road again, “In 2022, I swore I’d never get on a tour bus again, but we were careful to say to our fans that we would still perform in special situations that don’t require all of the awful tour travel. Our Vegas residency is going great, and when we were offered the chance to do a small run of shows with Devo, we all said this is an extraordinary opportunity we couldn’t say no to.”
Motley Crue
Motley Crue’s “Final Tour” ran from July 2, 2014, to December 31, 2015. Nikki Sixx, however, did tell Rolling Stone in 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 was an amount of money that could make Sixx and the rest of the Crue change their minds. They and embarked on the very lucrative “Stadium Tour” in 2022 with Def Leppard, Poison, and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.
KISS
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. The band then embarked on their “End of the Road” farewell tour, which came to a close on December 2, 2023 . While the band is (reportedly) done with touring, they have performed one-off shows since the MSG finale.
Ozzy Osbourne
The Prince of Darkness’ 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.” He had to bring his “No More Tours 2” farewell tour to a due to numerous health issues. Fortunately, Ozzy will get to perform one last time as a solo artist and with the original Black Sabbath lineup at the all-star concert event “” on July 5, 2025 in Birmingham, England.
Cher
Cher 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 then 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
David 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
Tina 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
Jay-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 solo studio albums and four collaborative albums, including 2018’s Everything Is Love with his wife, Beyoncé.
Barbra Streisand
Streisand’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 three tours: 2006-2007’s “Streisand,” 2012-2013’s “Barbra Live,” and 2016-2017’s “Barbra: The Music, The Mem’ries, The Magic.”
Garth Brooks
Brooks 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. In 2023, Brooks returned to Vegas for a residency, but this time, it was at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. That residency . Since coming out of retirement, Brooks has also released four studio albums.
