Surrounded by emotional fans from around the world, Elton John hailed them as his "lifeblood" as he gave his final farewell concert in Stockholm after more than 50 years of live performances.
"You know how much I like to play live. It's been my lifeblood to play for you guys, and you've been absolutely magnificent," he told the delighted audience at the arena in the Swedish capital.
Wearing a tailcoat accented with rhinestones and a red pair of his trademark large glasses, the pop superstar, 76, sat down at the piano shortly after 8pm to cheers to open his farewell show with one of his most popular songs, Bennie and the Jets.
He continued with Philadelphia Freedom and I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues to a rapt audience, many of whom were wearing sparkling blue or red glasses.
Playing for more than two hours, John interspersed the songs with moments when he would get up and leave the piano to thank not only his fans but also his band and his crew, some of whom have been with him for more than 40 years.
"I want to pay tribute to these musicians ... They're really incredible, they've been with me so long, some of them. And they are the best, I tell you, the best," he said.
Shortly after a rendition of Border Song, which he dedicated to Aretha Franklin, John's I'm Still Standing brought the 30,000 fans at the Tele2 Arena to their feet.
Before he took his encore, John screened a message from Coldplay, who were playing in the western Swedish city of Gothenburg, in which singer Chris Martin thanked him for his career and commitment.
The star has been winding down his decades-long live career with a global farewell tour.
He played his last concerts in the US in May and brought the curtain down on Britain's annual Glastonbury Festival last month.
Saturday's concert was the second consecutive evening the Stockholm stadium hosted the British singer-songwriter for the last leg of his final tour, which began five years ago and was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and a hip operation in 2021.
On his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, John will have given 330 concerts, crisscrossing Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada and Britain, before closing in Stockholm.
Overall on the tour, he performed in front of 6.25 million fans.
