The show, The Red Piano, was a multimedia concert featuring massive props and video montages created by David LaChapelle. To celebrate five years since he had first appeared at the venue, in 1975, John played a two-night, four-show stand at the Troubadour. In 1979, accompanied by Ray Cooper, John became one of the first Western artists to tour the Soviet Union and Israel. A concept album of songs from the musical Aida, Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, was also released and featured the John duets " Written in the Stars" with LeAnn Rimes, and "I Know the Truth" with Janet Jackson.

The iconic Dodgers outfit, designed by Bob Mackie, was worn by the Tiny Dancer singer when he headlined the Los Angeles Dodgers Stadium for two nights in 1975. All of the UK profits from the song went to the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation. The Dexter Fletcher-directed fantasy musical which explores the music statesman’s rise to richness – and his subsequent tumult and redemption – received a five-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2019. On 24 January 2018, it was announced that John was retiring from touring and would soon embark on a three-year farewell tour.His writing on film and TV has appeared at Screen Rant, Screenology, FanFare, Primetimer, Cinemania, and in a number of scholarly journals and edited collections. Though retired from touring, John has said that he will continue to "do the odd show" and is also in the early planning stages of recording a new album. Towards the end of the year, John released " Nikita" from the album Ice on Fire, which had a music video directed by Ken Russell. This was particularly true for the United States, which grappled with a debilitating sense of ennui, political cynicism, and uncertainty.

John wrote music for the lyrics and then sent it to Taupin, beginning a partnership that still continues [update]. Eddie Murphy is in fine form in Dolemite is My Name, which, as the title suggests, focuses on the noted Blaxploitation actor and director Rudy Ray Moore.He performed with the surviving members of Queen in Paris at the opening night (17 January 1997) of Le Presbytère N'a Rien Perdu De Son Charme Ni Le Jardin De Son Éclat, a work by French ballet legend Maurice Béjart that draws upon the AIDS crisis and the deaths of Freddie Mercury and the company's principal dancer, Jorge Donn.