The first rock concert I ever attended was the Los Angeles stop on The Who’s 1982 “Farewell Tour”. 7 years later they were back, and have toured every few years since then.
It seems like many bands can’t make it stick. Ozzy Osbourne’s retirement lasted about 2 years. Kiss was back on the road 3 years after their farewell tour. Heck, one of the most famous “farewell shows” was The Band’s The Last Waltz, and they came back 6 years later, albeit without Robbie Robertson.
So who was actually gone away and stayed away after they said they were hanging it up?
Criteria:
The tour/show has to be announced as the farewell one in advance (so no The Cars calling it quits in the middle of the tour and going home, no Beatles on the rooftop)
No subsequent live shows other than Hall of Fame induction or other award ceremony reunions.
It’s been at least 10 years since they went away.
The only one I can think of is The Ramones. Their advertised-in-advance last show in 1996 really was the last one, and since the original members are all dead, it’s safe to say no reunion is coming.
Too soon to say: I have a feeling Motley Crue will be back, despite claiming they were done 2 years ago.
Last year, the Go-Go’s explicitly left the door open to doing one-off shows. They merely ruled out any future tours.
So, who else has announced they were quitting, this is your last chance to see us live, and meant it?
One report I just read said the Who have staged ten different farewell tours. The most recent was in 2015. And they’ve already come back from that one.
In all fairness, Glen Campbell advertised it was his last tour because he had come down with Alzheimer’s Disease. He would have quit regardless of his death.
Yes I am purposely ignoring your criteria. It was only a few years ago but Rush had its last tour on their 40th anniversary. Although it’s possible they will play in a limited way in the future health issues will mean they can’t tour. Alex Lifeson has very painful arthritis. Neil Peart has bad tendonitis. They just can’t keep it going.
I’ll suggest Cream. They don’t exactly fit rule #2, because they did do a handful of live shows in London and New York back in 2005, but there was no full-fledged reunion tour.
Yes, I think it was Signs and Portents, a huge episode for the show as well.
I felt like Alice In Chains concerts after their “tripod self-titled” album were farewell concerts. Layne did die, but they have resumed as many others have and continued going.
How odd it is to realize The Who have carried on longer since the “Farewell Tour” than the length of their career before the farewell!
Personally I’m glad to have had the chance to see them in the intervening years (with the possible exception of “The Who on Ice” tour which was a major yawn). They really delivered on the 2000 tour and the “Quadrophenia and More” shows were excellent. Roger’s voice may be shot but Pete still puts on a masterclass on how to play rock guitar.
From Robbie Robertson’s point of view, that’s probably true. It was his idea to break up after the concert and film. But as I mentioned in the OP, the rest of the band reunited and resumed touring in the 80s.
The Beta Band (probably best known for Johm Cusack saying he was about to sell five copies of one of their albums in High Fidelity) had a farewell tour in, IIRC, 2004. It’s held up since then. They come to mind for me because their greatest hits album that I own had their farewell concert as a second CD.
I saw them twice in the 80s. Once they opened for CSN and they were also one of the opening bands at Rogers Waters The Wall concert at the Berlin Wall. They also played as part of the back up band during portions of The Wall.
Without Robertson I still don’t consider it the real version. Now only Garth and Robbie remain.
