ELTON John says farewell at Glastonbury, Rod Stewart announces he’s quitting big concerts, and Madonna postpones her world tour after a spell in hospital.

Rock stars are ageing, and it seems they’re not invincible after all.

When pop music began, in the 1950s, it was exclusively for the young. It was produced and performed by young people, for teenage audiences. As pop and rock evolved in the Sixties and Seventies, youth remained the focus, for the acts and the fans. And when punk gatecrashed the party and ripped it all up, it was the kids who were eagerly embracing the rebellion.

Now the singers and bands who were the hot young stars of 40, 50 and 60 years ago are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, and rocking the longevity. They have professional credibility, immense back catalogues, and loyal fans who have stuck with them for decades. They’re still selling out arenas. Some are even still making great music.

But when voices are waning and hips and backs are going, and the gruelling demands of touring start to take their toll, it doesn’t feel like rock ‘n’ roll anymore. Is it time, as Sir Elton and Sir Rod seem to have conceded, to wind down and enjoy the memories, or should we expect our rock and pop legends to keep strutting across stadium stages till they drop?

Veteran music acts have been making headlines recently - not least Elton John who, aged 76, shuffled onto Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage in a gold suit last week to play his final UK gig. Elton’s 333-date farewell tour has spanned five years, with delays caused by Covid and his hip replacement, and ends with his last ever live show in Stockholm on Saturday. He’s come a long way since he first announced his retirement, back in 1977.

Debbie Harry, who performed at Glasto in leather thigh boots and mirrored shades, turned 78 on July 1. And 64-year-old Madonna has spent several days in intensive care with a bacterial infection just weeks before she was due to kick off an 84-date tour celebrating her 40-year career.

At an age when most mere mortals are enjoying retirement, or winding down a little, pop icons are taking on work schedules that would exhaust performers a quarter of their age.

Why do they continue to put themselves through it? While there must still be a love of the music, a creative urge, and wanting to connect with fans, I would say it’s mostly down to money and ego. Tours are a major source of income for acts, now there’s no money in record sales. And when you’ve been adored on stage for most of your life it must be tough to even contemplate giving up that level of attention.

And, to be fair, we still want to watch them. I go and see Eighties and Nineties bands that I loved when I was young because I still enjoy the music and I like to see them play live. It’s my music and they’re my people.

As well as the nostalgia rush, there is something quite moving about seeing the artists we loved as kids singing the soundtrack to our youth. Age has come to us, just as it has to them. In 2014 I saw Kate Bush at her Before the Dawn residency - her first live shows since 1979 - and she focused on two albums and a handful of crowd-pleasers. Some fans were disappointed she didn’t sing the early hits but, at the age of 55, she quite rightly chose not to leap about in a leotard singing Wuthering Heights. Respect.

I think dignity is key with ageing performers. Much as we adore them, our rock gods and goddesses run the risk of looking ridiculous and rather sad if they’re forever clinging to lost youth or, worse, if they sell out and become what they may have once despised. When I heard that U2 have a Vegas residency later this year, I lost some respect for the band I fell in love with when I was 16. I’m sure it will make them lots of money, but it doesn’t sit well.

We love to see our heroes on stage but when the time comes, we need to let them go. We’ll always have the music. And the tribute bands.