Rod Stewart is preparing to step away from the touring circuit for good. After more than sixty years spent singing on stages around the world, the veteran performer has mapped out an extensive string of arena shows across the United Kingdom and continental Europe for the spring and summer of 2027. Promoted under the title The Final Encore, the tour is intended to serve as his definitive departure from life on the road.
The itinerary begins in Ireland, where Stewart will play Dublin's 3Arena on April 23, 2027. The schedule quickly carries him to the SSE Arena in Belfast and the OVO Hydro in Glasgow before turning south toward English arenas. Those stops include appearances at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham and Co-op Live in Manchester, leading to a wrap of the domestic leg at The O2 in London on May 11. Synth-pop veteran Howard Jones has been confirmed as the opening act across all the dates in the UK and Ireland.
From London, Stewart shifts his operation to mainland Europe, where dates run from late May right through the end of July. The routing covers major facilities, including Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome and Antwerp's AFAS Dome, alongside German stops at Berlin's Uber Arena and the PSD Bank Dome in Düsseldorf. As June arrives, the singer will travel through Scandinavia for concerts in Copenhagen, Helsinki, and the outdoor Dalhalla amphitheatre in Rättvik, Sweden, followed by Norwegian dates in Trondheim and Bergen. The midsummer run branches further east and south, taking in Budapest, Munich, the historic Roman amphitheatre of Pula Arena in Croatia, and Prague. Stewart is scheduled to close out the tour in late July with nights at Tauron Arena in Kraków and the ZAG Arena in Hannover. Public ticket sales are slated to start on Friday, October 2, following initial presales for fan club members on Tuesday, September 29.
Reflecting on the decision in a statement accompanying the tour announcement, Stewart characterized the performances as a direct gesture of appreciation to the public that has sustained his career for most of his life. He explained that he has been performing the music he loves since he was 19 years old, noting that touring provided him with a reality far greater than anything he could have anticipated when he started out. Stewart reiterated that this specific tour will definitively be his last, adding that he intends to honor his listeners by delivering a memorable set built around his deep song catalog.
The announcement arrives after a demanding physical period on his preceding One Last Time tour. During the summer, Stewart was forced to call off several North American dates after undergoing a routine coronary stent procedure, having already withdrawn from an earlier performance on short notice due to another minor medical condition. During a stop in Utah, he experienced a severe bout of dizziness, nearly fainting before taking a break to use an oxygen tank on stage and asking the audience in good humor if they minded him taking a seat. He also had to navigate public criticism after he was photographed cheering on Scotland at a World Cup match only hours after pulling out of a concert in California on grounds of illness.
Despite those setbacks, Stewart maintained a heavy performance schedule, which included a high-profile appearance in the Legends Slot on Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage in 2025. His retirement strategy has unfolded in stages over several years. During 2024, he acknowledged that he was preparing to step back from extensive global arena travel, floating the idea that his 2025 dates would represent the end of that scale, while remaining clear that he had no intention of abandoning music entirely. By that spring, he hinted that a 2027 outing would likely provide his genuine farewell to the touring life. With The Final Encore confirmed across dozens of European cities, that long-delayed conclusion has finally arrived on the calendar.
