Rod Stewart Announces ‘Final Encore’ Tour, Calling It His Last Rock and Roll Road Run

Rod Stewart is preparing to take one last bow as a touring rock and roll road warrior.

The 81-year-old British music legend has announced what he is calling “The Final Encore Tour,” a 2027 run that he says will be his final full rock tour. In a video posted to Instagram, Stewart told fans that the decision came “after much deliberation and sadness,” adding: “Next year will be my last tour ever, ever.”

But Stewart was quick to draw a line between ending the grind of major rock touring and disappearing from music altogether.

“I’m not retiring,” he said. “But this will be the last rock and roll tour.”

The new dates include a run across the United Kingdom and Europe from April through July 2027, along with North American shows scheduled in places including Georgia, Florida and Colorado. Ticket listings already show dates including Savannah, Hollywood, St. Augustine and a two-night stand at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, one of the most iconic outdoor venues in America. Songkick

The announcement comes after a rough patch for Stewart, who recently canceled remaining dates on his “One Last Time” tour after undergoing a coronary stent procedure. His representatives said the procedure was routine and that doctors were pleased with his recovery, though he was advised to take several weeks to recuperate before returning to the stage. AP News

For Stewart fans, the farewell tour is more than another nostalgia circuit. It is the closing chapter of one of rock’s most durable live careers.

Born in London in 1945, Roderick David Stewart started far from arenas and velvet ropes. His early days included busking with a harmonica, playing in blues and R&B groups, and finding his voice in the rough-and-ready British club scene. By the late 1960s, he had broken through with the Jeff Beck Group, whose blues-heavy rock helped shape the sound that would soon dominate the next decade.

Then came Faces.

With Ronnie Wood, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones, Stewart became the wild-haired, raspy-voiced frontman of one of Britain’s great loose, boozy, swaggering rock bands. Faces were never polished in the sterile sense. They sounded like a party that had somehow learned how to play brilliantly. Their run was short, but their influence was enormous, and their chemistry helped turn Stewart into a star with a personality as big as his voice. LouderSound

At the same time, Stewart’s solo career exploded. His 1971 album “Every Picture Tells a Story” and the single “Maggie May” made him a transatlantic sensation. From there came decades of hits: “You Wear It Well,” “Sailing,” “Tonight’s the Night,” “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” and many more.

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He would reinvent himself repeatedly, moving from folk-rock and bluesy grit into stadium rock, disco-flavored pop, ballads and later the Great American Songbook. That flexibility helped keep him in the public eye for more than 60 years.

Even in recent years, Stewart has continued performing at a pace that would punish artists half his age. In 2025, he played the coveted legends slot at Glastonbury, joined by guests including Ronnie Wood, Lulu and Mick Hucknall, and closed with “Sailing.” Reuters

That is why this announcement lands with real weight. Stewart is not simply retiring a setlist. He is signaling the end of a particular version of himself: the full-throttle touring rock star who spent decades crossing continents, kicking soccer balls into crowds, joking with fans, and singing in that sandpaper-and-soul voice that made him instantly recognizable.

Still, Stewart’s message was not gloomy. He thanked fans for what they had given him and suggested the farewell would be a celebration, not a funeral.

“Please come back and see me on the tour,” he said, before promising: “It’s gonna be great.”

For a performer who came up busking, survived the chaos of 1960s and 1970s rock, became a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and kept singing into his eighties, “Final Encore” sounds less like an ending than a victory lap.

A loud one. A sentimental one. And, knowing Rod Stewart, probably one with the crowd singing every word.