Rod Stewart announces final tour for 2027

Rod Stewart, who has been performing since the early 1960s, has announced that his upcoming tour, The Final Encore, will mark the end of his touring career. The arena run begins in April 2027 and covers the UK and Europe.

UK dates include Belfast, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and London, while the extensive European leg wraps up in July in Hanover, Germany.

The 81-year-old singer promises fans "one hell of a show," saying the time has come to step away from life on the road. He noted he has been singing the music he loves since age 19 and expressed gratitude to fans for making his extraordinary career possible.

Stewart still has a couple of shows scheduled beyond the new tour's end, in Red Rocks, Colorado in September 2027. Those dates were rescheduled from this past June due to inflamed vocal cords. The original June shows were part of his US farewell tour, One Last Time. During that run, he paused a Utah concert to use an oxygen mask after nearly fainting, and later cancelled the tour's remaining dates following a heart procedure.

Earlier in 2025, during the same farewell tour, Stewart had cancelled shows due to flu, Covid and strep throat, as well as the need for vocal rest. Despite battling flu, he went ahead with his Glastonbury "legends slot" performance.

Stewart has been touring since his teenage years, starting out with folk singer Wizz Jones before moving through several bands, including Faces. His solo career took off in the late 1960s, and since 1971's chart-topping Every Picture Tells a Story, nearly all of his 29 studio albums have reached the UK Top 10. His most recent, 2024's Swing Fever with Jools Holland, hit No 1.

While retiring from touring, Stewart has hinted at future studio work, saying he and former Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood have unfinished songs they hope to complete together.