Elton John Closes Out His Brazil Story With a 24-Song Rock in Rio Marathon
Elton John played 24 songs over two hours and 15 minutes at Rock in Rio on Monday, September 7, 2026, drawing more than 100,000 people to a sold-out Palco Mundo — the festival's main stage — despite a grim weather forecast. Billboard
The set was the longest and deepest of any headliner at this year's Rock in Rio, surpassing Foo Fighters' 19 songs, Calvin Harris' 21 and Avenged Sevenfold's 14. John took the stage at 11 p.m., 65 minutes earlier than originally scheduled. He opened with the nine-minute suite "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" and closed with "Your Song."
In between came the pillars: "Tiny Dancer," "Rocket Man," "Candle in the Wind," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Sacrifice," "Honky Cat," "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." He dedicated "Crocodile Rock" to the Brazilian audience and performed "Cold Heart" in the electronic style of his 2021 collaboration with Dua Lipa. Twenty of the 24 songs also appeared in the 23-song set he used during the final stretch of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, the farewell run that ended in July 2023.
John was backed by his longtime band: Davey Johnstone on guitar, Nigel Olsson on drums, Ray Cooper on percussion, John Mahon on percussion, Kim Bullard on keyboards and Matt Bissonette on bass. The Palco Mundo, rechristened the Mundo Stage for 2026, debuted with nearly 25,800 square feet of high-definition LED panels across a structure 351 feet wide.
He shared the September 7 bill with Gilberto Gil, Jon Batiste and Luísa Sonza, but the night was his. John told the crowd he accepted Rock in Rio's invitation to thank Brazil for the love shown to him throughout his career, and that he felt "a little mean" about leaving the country off his Farewell Yellow Brick Road itinerary. After wrapping that tour, he decided to come back. Billboard
It was his first show in Brazil since 2017, and it was reported as his final performance in the country. Rio Times Prior to this appearance, John had played Rio de Janeiro six times and Rock in Rio twice, according to a history published on his official website on August 27, 2026. Elton John
Tickets for the September 7 date were listed at R$795 full price, R$397.50 at the half-price rate available under Brazilian law, and R$675.75 for clients of the bank Itaú Unibanco, which ran the festival's presale. Rio Times The Itaú presale sold out for September 5, 7 and 11 — headlined by Avenged Sevenfold, Elton John and Stray Kids, respectively — and Rock in Rio announced on July 19 that remaining tickets for the 7th were still available. By showtime, the night was sold out. Rock in Rio
John wore a yellow blazer and matching trousers over a navy shirt, with blue glasses, sparkling earrings, a pendant and bracelets. Rock in Rio's official line-up page lists his career honours as five Grammys, two Golden Globes, one Tony and six Brit Awards. Rock in Rio
The show was announced as a single Brazilian performance — one night, one stage, one finish line. A first-week total is somebody's rent, and a scrapped tour leg is a crew out of work, but sometimes the ending is the one that was promised: a pianist, a crowd of 100,000, and "Your Song."
