With speculation rife about "The Final Curtain" tour (due to launch in Sioux Falls in autumn 2015 before Elton's next run of "The Million Dollar Piano" shows at Caesar's Palace), eltonfan.net has pulled together the facts, gossip and inside information on what fans can expect over the coming months (and years) ...

1. "The Final Curtain" tour was first announced in April 2015, with Sioux Falls the first declared date. The press statement issued at the time read: "After more than 4,000 concerts and a career spanning over fifty years, Elton is now slowly bringing the curtain down. 'The simple truth is I want to spend more time with my family and less time touring,' said Elton. 'I am all too aware of how precious the time ahead is. My sons are growing up so quickly, their early years are just flying by and I want to be there with them. So this final Sioux Falls concert will give me one last chance to say farewell to my fans here who have been so faithful over the decades.'
   
2. Although "The Final Curtain" tour will (ultimately) culminate in the end of Elton's live touring, that is not imminent. The tour is envisaged as a five-year process, with Elton gradually "winding down" and saying "goodbye" to some of the smaller venues he has visited during his career. His literal final curtain could be as far away as 2020.
   
3. The tour is expected to feature an extensive range of tracks from Elton's back catalogue - including (to the delight of some) the "deeper cuts" that long-time fans have been hoping for. Currently, the setlist and content for these shows is under review and "will change" as the tour progresses. Some fans have been told to "expect lots of interesting stuff as The Final Curtain goes on the road..."
   
4. Don't expect these "deeper cuts" to appear straight away. Whilst extensive setlist changes are planned, the first leg of the Tour will remain focused on the "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" material, with perhaps some nice surprises thrown in!
   
5. Tracks currently under consideration for inclusion on "The Final Curtain" tour include: "Ballad of a Well-Known Gun", "Where to Now, St. Peter?", "High Flying Bird", as many as five songs from the album "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy", personal favourites of Elton himself such as "Come Down in Time", "Original Sin" and "Amoreena", and (perhaps most interestingly of all) the title track from his very first album, "Empty Sky"!
   
6. Naturally, when the new album is released in 2016, songs from the new release will make their live debuts. All of the songs recorded across the three studio sessions have been rehearsed in readiness to be played live on stage, but no firm plans have been made yet as to how many of these will be staples of the tour set.
   
7. Ray Cooper will join the band back on the road for the tour.
   
8. There are tentative plans in place for Elton's 70th birthday in 2017. Fans can expect a concert which is designed to "out do" his 60th celebrations in Madison Square Gardens, both in terms of spectacle and setlist.
   
9. Additional venues planned for "The Final Curtain" tour include London's Wembley Arena and The Roundhouse, New York's Madison Square Garden, Sydney's Entertainment Centre, and Elton's beloved Vicarage Road, the home of Watford FC!