With the recent passing of the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, the subject of farewell tours comes front and center. I always tell my friends to see the greats, while they are still alive. We saw Aretha in 2015, on her last tour. And it was a treasured performance. Who else has fallen into this farewell tour goodbye?
Paul Simon is homeward bound. Yes, the master song writer and singer has pulled the plug on a great career. After seeing him a few times with Artie, his solo performances are even better, more entertaining, and certainly, more nostalgic. We just saw him on his Homeward Bound Tour.
Elton John is another. We saw him a few years back with he traveled with the well traveled Billy Joel. And yes, both voices were over the hill, but not their charisma. It was entertaining, especially when both of them were on the stage together.
Neil Diamond finally made it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But I have enjoyed his music for decades, with my favorite, “Sweet Caroline” leading the way. We saw him numerous times, he was one of the first to use lasers during his show. He was a great showman, and could get even the more hard core guys and gals standing and swaying to his many hits.
Never cared much for Kenny Rogers, or his chicken. I saw him once in Vegas or Tahoe, certainly a mere shell of himself now. Maybe his chicken is better than his singing?
Only one guy left with Lynyrd Skynyrd, that one being Gary Rossington. A bare bones show up at Ironstone Vineyards up in Calaveras. Loud, but not much in the way of artistry or for that fact, good memories. It is a good time to hang it up!
I never saw Anita Baker, but what a voice!
One of my all time favorites, Joan Baez, led the way through protests, anti-war and peace movements, and just plain great songs about this wonderful country of ours. She still has a great voice. She could motivate a crowd to sing and better, to believe!
I can skip Motley and Aero, never did a whole lot for me, even in their prime. They are just doing a money grab now, like Nike with the Kaepernick ads. I expect some other greats to retire from touring soon: Carole King, Judy Collins, Billy Joel. Heck, I even saw Elvis back in 1971. I regret not seeing the Beatles at Candlestick.
Many others have passed on, or barely hanging on. So, the point to all of this is to go see them while they are still performing!
