Pop Singer Plays Final Concert, Retires After 64-Year Career

Singing legend Tony Orlando had the last concert of his live performing career. He chose to end it with a show on March 22 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Montville, Connecticut, titled “The Finale, A Memory Forever.”

Priscilla Presley was in attendance, sharing a photo of her and Orlando to her Instagram with the caption, “With my dear friend Tony Orlando at the Mohegan Sun in CT. for the finale of his tour appearances. ‘What a show Tony!’ You will be missed’!” 

Australian singer and songwriter Ky Baldwin also enthusiastically posed for a photo with Orlando, writing on his Instagram, “[Mohegan Sun Arena] you sure know how to put on a party. Thank you so much for allowing me to come out and be a part of [Tony Orlando’s] final ever show. What an absolute dream to be able to perform (which I did not know I was doing until the night before!!) for 10,000+ people, I am blown away, thank you everyone who made this memory happen, and of course to the man himself!”

The iconic crooner’s daughter, Jenny Orlando, was also present for the penultimate performance. Next to a photo of her and her dad, she wrote, “Where it all began, and the final show tonight. So proud of you.” 

During a recent interview with the Hartford Courant, Orlando explained why he’s giving up live performances after over 60 years: “I don’t ever want to be in a position where I’m walking out to a third of a house,” he said. “I don’t ever want to be in the position of letting a buyer down who’s paying me and may lose money. I’ve never been in that position and I don’t want to get there.”

“I’m in show business now 65 years,” Orlando told the media outlet. “I would’ve been happy if it were 63 days. I said to my wife, ‘I can still hit the ball, I’m getting great reviews, but I just can’t run the bases.’ There’s a lot of waiting in airports. That’s how I started thinking about retiring. But I’m only retiring from live performance. I still have a radio show on WABC that’s number one in its time slot. I’m beginning a new company because I always want to write for film. I don’t know if I’ll be successful at it, but I’m beginning a new journey.”

As he navigates the path of his own music history, he is aware that it was a time of significant changes in the industry. “I worked with the greats,” he said. “I was in the studio with Burt Bacharach and Carole King making records. I was making records with Jerry Wexler, the founder of Atlantic Records. I made an album with Muscle Shoals (the famed Alabama studio musicians).”

In addition to earning five No. 1 hits, numerous awards, and the opportunity to perform all over the world, Orlando was also a major TV star for several years. During the early 1970s, he hosted a top-rated variety show on CBS with backing vocal group Dawn (Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson). As he pointed out, Tony Orlando & Dawn was the first multi-racial prime-time program of its kind to air on television in history.

“We were the first multi-racial group to ever have a show on television,” he told Forbes. “And they didn’t know what was going to happen. They were worried about getting hate letters, but there was just a minimal amount of hate mail. We realized the country had taken a big step forward.” 

Dawn made a surprise appearance to reunite with Orlando during his last show, joining him for some of their signature songs. The group’s greatest hits include “Candida,” “Knock Three Times,” “Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose,” and “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You,” and perhaps Orlando’s best-known, “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree.”

The top-selling Billboard song of 1973, it became a symbol of hope, reunion, and rebirth. In particular, “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” has been used to raise money supporting veterans’ causes. The song has made countless appearances as an anthem for Vietnam and other wars.

Despite longing for the life of touring from stage to stage, Orlando explained to Forbes why he plans to retire from live performances. In addition to high travel costs and flight delays that can lead to missed gigs, a number of factors led to the decision to stop traveling.

“I’ve been wanting to flex other creative muscles that I haven’t been able to due to my schedule,” he said. “For instance, I just finished writing two screenplays. I don’t know if they’ll do well, but I’ve had a ball writing them! And I just finished a Broadway show.” The Broadway show, titled Rooftop Dreams, tells the story of Orlando’s real-life beginnings in music and how he got his start. 

In the meantime, as he stops touring, he has plenty of work to do to keep himself occupied. In addition to starting his own production company, he will continue to perform live on occasion, as well as hosting his own radio show, Saturday Nights with Tony Orlando, which airs on 77 WABC Music Radio from 10 p.m. to midnight every Saturday. 

With his retirement, one thing Orlando does not have to worry about is declining fan support. After concluding his Farewell Tour, Branson, Missouri, will commemorate Orlando’s contributions to the city and his involvement in establishing the Branson Veterans Homecoming celebrations on Nov. 22, 2022, by proclaiming it “Tony Orlando Yellow Ribbon Day.”

On Saturday, March 23, attendees will gather at the Branson Airport when Orlando flies back to his home in Branson after his final show. Residents are being asked to place yellow ribbons on the trees in their yards by Saturday evening. The Branson area businesses are to post signs with messages of support, and the theaters are requested to display signs with “Welcome Home, Tony” and similar messages.

In his view, Orlando’s future is bright, and as he looks forward to the possibilities that lie ahead, he is grateful for the opportunities he has been given in the past. “I’ve had all this wonderful stuff happen to me and I’m so appreciative of what God has blessed me with here,” he told Forbes. “It’s been a dream journey, seriously.”