Rod Stewart says next year’s Final Encore dates will be his last rock and roll tour ever, even as the 81-year-old star insists he is not retiring.
In an Instagram video posted Monday, Sept. 28, the “Maggie May” singer told fans he had reached the decision after long thought and real regret.
USA TODAY reported that Stewart framed the outing as a send-off for the loud, full-band chapter of his career, not a quiet exit from music.
He put it plainly on camera.
Stewart said:
"Ladies and gentlemen, after much deliberation and sadness, I have to announce, next year will be my last tour ever, ever,"
He followed with the line that matters most to longtime fans.
Stewart said:
"I'm not retiring, but this will be the last rock and roll tour. So I want to thank you for everything you've given me, and hopefully I've given you something in return."
He urged crowds to show up, added that the run will be great, and even slammed a nearby piano while singing through the message.
The farewell push lands weeks after medical trouble cut short his 2026 plans.
In August, Stewart postponed a Cincinnati concert hours before showtime. The reason given then was an unforeseen but minor medical procedure that needed prompt care.
Days later his team went further. They canceled the rest of his Las Vegas residency and the remaining 2026 “One Last Time” farewell dates after a routine coronary stent procedure.
A stent is a small metal mesh tube doctors place during angioplasty to prop open a narrowed artery that feeds the heart. That is the standard description cited from Medline Plus in the coverage.
On Aug. 11, his representatives told USA TODAY doctors were pleased with the recovery. They said Stewart was doing very well and had returned to normal daily activities.
They also said he would take four weeks to recuperate and regain full fitness before returning to the stage. That advice, they added, meant he could not continue the tour dates then on the books.
This was not his first hard medical stop. In the early 2000s he fought thyroid cancer and could not sing for nine months. He had prostate cancer in 2017. In 2025 he scrapped several shows after a long bout with the flu.
At 81, the pattern is clear. The voice still wants the stage. The body has started to set terms.
Stewart’s new run is billed as Final Encore.
United Kingdom and Europe dates are set for April through July 2027. U.S. shows include Georgia and Florida in March 2027, plus two nights in Colorado in September 2027. Specific venues were not listed in the initial report.
International tickets were slated for a presale from Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 10 a.m. BST (5 a.m. EST) through Friday, Oct. 2, at 9 a.m. BST (4 a.m. EST). General sale was set for Friday, Oct. 2, at 10 a.m. BST. U.S. dates were already on sale when the announcement story posted.
Stewart closed the video with a direct ask: please come back and see him on the tour.
For a star who has spent six decades packing arenas, that is the whole pitch. One more proper rock run. No long speech about legacy committees or farewell documentaries first.
Plenty of modern acts treat the stage like a branding errand. Stewart is still treating it like work worth finishing in public, under the lights, while he can.
