Journey played Crypto.com Arena on September 12, 2026, and Pechanga Arena San Diego on September 14, and returns to Honda Center in Anaheim on November 24, all under the banner of the Final Frontier Tour. The band announced the run as a farewell in November 2025 with 60 dates. In May 2026 it added 40 more.
That pattern is not unusual. With farewell tours, it is the norm. “Goodbye” has meant very different things depending on who said it, and before buying a ticket at a goodbye markup, it helps to know what the documented cases show.
The contract that burned
The clearest test case is Mötley Crüe. On January 28, 2014, at a Los Angeles press conference, the four members signed what they called a Cessation of Touring Agreement. The band’s own site described it as a legally binding end to touring after December 31, 2015. The last show happened that night at Staples Center, and Nikki Sixx told Rolling Stone in 2014 that no amount of money would bring the band back.
On November 18, 2019, the band posted a video of the contract being set on fire and announced a return, crediting renewed interest from the Netflix film The Dirt. A stadium tour with Def Leppard followed in 2022 after pandemic delays.
One detail matters for readers. Global News reported that the 2014 agreement barred touring under the Mötley Crüe name unless all members consented. A contract with a consent clause is not retirement. It is a pause the signers control.
Not touring is not the same as not playing
KISS finished the End of the Road World Tour on December 2, 2023, at Madison Square Garden, and closed the night by introducing digital avatars of the band. In April 2024, Pophouse Entertainment bought the band’s catalog, name and intellectual property for more than $300 million, with an avatar concert experience planned for 2027. Gene Simmons told the Associated Press at the time, “We’re not going to tour again as Kiss, period.”
In March 2025, the band announced three unmasked shows at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas for November 14 through 16, 2025, tied to the 50th anniversary of the KISS Army fan club. Both statements can be true. “No tour” leaves room for shows.
Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour is the largest of the farewell tours that kept its promise. Announced in January 2018 as a three-year run, it stretched to five years because of the pandemic. Billboard Boxscore counted 330 shows, 6 million tickets and $939.1 million in gross. The last show was July 8, 2023, in Stockholm.
In July 2026, his site announced two shows at Estadio Banorte in Mexico City for October 2 and 3, framed as a return to a region the pandemic cut from the tour, not as a new tour. Three years off the road followed by two stadium dates is how retirement often looks for artists who can still sell out stadiums.
Cyndi Lauper took a similar line. Her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour launched in October 2024, and Pollstar described it as her final major stint on the road rather than a retirement.
Farewell tours that kept going
Cher’s Farewell Tour began in 2002 and ended April 30, 2005, at the Hollywood Bowl. By the time it closed, CelebrityAccess reported 325 shows, more than 3 million tickets and more than $200 million in gross. Cher was back on the road with the Dressed to Kill Tour in 2014.
Foreigner announced The Historic Farewell Tour on November 14, 2022, with a first leg running July 6 through September 3, 2023, including FivePoint Amphitheater in Irvine on August 21. Guitarist Mick Jones described it as “one last worldwide tour.” The farewell was extended into late 2025, included an eight-show Las Vegas residency at the Venetian, and in November 2025 the band announced a 2026 co-headline tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd with a new lead singer.
The Who took a narrower approach. Their 2025 run was billed on the band’s official site as The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour, the final tour of the United States and Canada. That wording promises nothing about Europe, one-off shows or residencies. It does not need to.
When the ending is real
In two recent cases, the artist’s health made the decision final.
Aerosmith opened the Peace Out farewell tour on September 2, 2023, in Philadelphia, with a Kia Forum date planned for December 7, 2023. Steven Tyler injured his vocal cords that September, and the band postponed the tour. On August 2, 2024, the band announced it would retire from touring, saying a full recovery from his vocal injury was not possible. Ticketmaster buyers received automatic refunds. Buyers who purchased on resale platforms were told to contact their point of purchase.
Ozzy Osbourne’s final show was announced in February 2025 as Back to the Beginning, a single date on July 5, 2025, at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, with the original Black Sabbath lineup and donations going to Cure Parkinson’s and Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Sharon Osbourne told the BBC it would be his last concert. Osbourne had disclosed a Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2020. He died on July 22, 2025, at 76, seventeen days after the show.
How to read the next farewell tour announcement
Read the noun. “Retiring from touring,” “final tour,” “final North American tour” and “final shows” are four different promises. Artists have kept each one literally while doing something the audience did not expect.
Look for what is in writing. Mötley Crüe’s agreement had a consent clause. KISS sold its name to a company that plans to keep the brand performing without the band. If an announcement does not say what happens after the last date, assume nothing has been ruled out.
Expect extensions. Elton John’s three-year plan ran five. Cher’s ran three years and 325 shows. Journey added 40 dates within six months. A farewell that sells is a farewell that gets longer, so an early sellout is rarely the last chance.
Watch for residencies. Foreigner played Las Vegas during its farewell. A residency lets an act stop touring without stopping work, and nothing in a typical farewell announcement rules one out.
Buy primary when you can. The Aerosmith cancellation is a practical warning. Farewell tours carry higher cancellation risk because they often exist for health or age reasons, and refunds on resale tickets depend on the platform, not the artist.
Journey’s Anaheim date is November 24, 2026. The band has not said what comes after the tour ends. Based on the record above, that silence is worth noticing. For more, see The 824 Journal’s events coverage.
Sources
- Mötley Crüe (official site): Motley Crue Reveals Date of Final Show + New Song/Video
- Global News: Mötley Crüe announces comeback, destroys cessation of touring contract
- Deadline: Mötley Crüe & Def Leppard Stadium Tour Rescheduled For Summer After COVID Delays
- Associated Press via Parkersburg News and Sentinel: Review: The long Kiss goodbye ends at Madison Square Garden, but avatars loom
- CBS News / AP: Kiss gets in the groove by selling its music catalog and brand for over $300 million
- NME: KISS announce unmasked surprise 2025 show in Las Vegas
- Billboard Pro: Elton John’s Farewell Tour Comes to an End With $939 Million and 6 Million Tickets
- CBS News: Elton John bids farewell in last show of final tour
- Elton John (official site): Farewell to Mexico
- Pollstar: Chart Scene: Cyndi Lauper Debuts On Artist Power Index With Farewell Tour Launch
- CelebrityAccess: After 325 Concerts, Cher To Finally End Farewell Tour
- Foreigner (official site): The Historic Farewell Tour
- American Songwriter: Foreigner Extends Farewell Tour into Late 2025
- Ultimate Classic Rock: Lynyrd Skynyrd and Foreigner Announce 2026 Summer Tour
- The Who (official site): The Song Is Over, North American Farewell Tour
- CBS News: Aerosmith announces retirement from touring due to Steven Tyler’s vocal injury
- Rolling Stone: Aerosmith Announce Peace Out Farewell Tour Dates
- Forbes: Aerosmith Cancel Farewell Tour And Retire From Touring
- NPR: Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath to play final show in Birmingham
- CNN: Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath singer and godfather of heavy metal, dead at 76
- Time Out: Journey announced a farewell tour: here are all the details
- Prudential Center (venue press release): Journey Extends The Final Frontier Tour, 40 Additional North American Dates
- Pechanga Arena San Diego (venue): Journey: Final Frontier Tour 2026
