Nothing lasts forever in rock 'n' roll, and that's doubly true when it comes to staying retired. We're counting down a collection of acts who returned to the stage after calling it quits in this gallery of 15 Farewell Tours That Weren’t Actually Goodbye.

Although there's some overlap with our previous look at our favorite reunion tours, we're noting a difference here in that, with nearly all of our entries, the act announced their retirement from performing before going out on tour, only to retract the pledge at a later date (Elton John is the exception, having broken the news during a concert). In many cases the decision to quit was precipitated by a band breaking up, while in others they were simply tired of the demands of touring, but promised to continue recording.

But what Joni Mitchell called the "Refuge of the Roads" couldn't keep them down. Sometimes, as with Ozzy Osbourne, they returned within a few years because they were incapable of sitting still for too long, while Cream waited 37 years before reuniting in 2005 for a handful of shows.

One band that took a pre-emptive approach to ensure they wouldn't break their promise was Motley Crue. At the 2014 press conference announcing their last tour, they signed a legally binding "Cessation of Touring Agreement," and went on to make numerous boasts over the next five years that they were sticking to it. Then, naturally, they changed their mind in November 2019, releasing a video in which they literally blew up the contract.

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