Elton John just announced he is officially retiring from touring - but not before a 300-show tour that will take him to every continent

Mike Segar/Reuters

Elton John just announced he is officially retiring from touring - but not before after a final global 300-show tour starting in September.

The 70-year-old singer, known for countless hit songs like "Your Song" and "Candle in the Wind," announced the news as part of a highly anticipated live stream, for which a countdown began this week.

Hosted by Anderson Cooper, the event saw Elton say: "My priorities have changed in my life.

Speaking of husband David Furnish, he said: "We had children and it changed our lives. In 2015 David and I sat down with a school schedule and I said, 'I don't want to miss any of this."

"The priorities in my life have changed. My priorities now are my children, my husband, and my family."

However, the global tour - which plans to take him everywhere in the year, "every continent you can possibly think of" - will take three years, according to the singer, who performed "Tiny Dancer" and "I'm Still Standing" live from New York City on the broadcast.

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Rumours began to circulate on Wednesday morning that Elton John was retiring when The Mirror reported that the star was calling quits on touring after being "dogged by ill health."

In April last year, the singer spent 12 days in hospital and two nights in intensive care after becoming "violenty" ill over a rare bacterial infection.

However, speaking on Wednesday the singer said: "If you're going to do 300 shows, you're not in ill health. I'm in great health."

On Tuesday, a pop-up event at King's Cross station also saw a self-playing piano with an augmented reality Elton sitting at it, performing "Your Song."

The event was part of the build-up to the annoucement, which was teased with this video:

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