Elton John, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Slayer: Here's why the farewell tour is so hot

John McLaughlin knew it was time.

"It's not a light decision not to tour again, but that really is the situation," the British guitar legend said before a November concert at Ruth Eckerd Hall, part of what he'd billed as his farewell tour of North America. Taking the music of his influential fusion outfit Mahavishnu Orchestra across the country one last time, said McLaughlin, then 75, was "absolutely the best way I could say goodbye and thank you to my friends in America."

Nice sentiment, huh? A lot of artists these days seem to feel the same way.

This week, a handful of iconic artists announced farewell world tours, all with stops in Central Florida. First it was veteran speed metal band Slayer, who booked a show at the Orlando Amphitheater in June. Then came Elton John, whose three-year, 300-date farewell tour features five shows in Florida, including one in November at Amalie Arena. Then on Thursday, Florida's own Lynyrd Skynyrd announced it was putting Free Bird out to pasture with a tour that hits Tampa in May.

Sure, farewell tours make for great punch lines. Remember the Who's "final" tours in the 1980s, or Cher's much-ballyhooed adios to the road in 2002? Those didn't stick in the slightest.

But the idea of the farewell tour might be changing in 2018 and beyond, as the deaths of legends such as Tom Petty, Glenn Frey and Prince prove it's no longer prudent to take your rock gods for granted. Glen Campbell's farewell tour in 2012 very much proved the real deal. Fans got no such warning before last year's golden anniversary tour by Neil Diamond, who this week announced he'd been diagnosed with Parkinson's and was quitting touring, effective immediately.

"If it's an artist you love, you don't want them to go away," said Bobby Rossi, Ruth Eckerd Hall's executive vice president for entertainment. "At the same time, sometimes when you know from all indications that it's going to be it, you go, 'All right, let's make it special.' In all likelihood, it's going to cost more, and there is more marquee attention."

Indeed, calling a tour a farewell trek can be a great marketing hook, just like a reunion tour or a full-album performance. It doesn't always work -- McLaughlin's Clearwater show was at most two-thirds full -- but for the biggest shows, it definitely stimulates demand. Presale tickets to Elton John's Tampa show hit the market Thursday. Within hours, they were listed on the resale site vividseats.com starting at $82, up nearly 50 percent from face value.

But sometimes an artist just feels finished. Elton John has said he wanted to spend more time with his children. Others say they're sick of the grind of touring day to day, the buses and airports and endless string of antiseptic arena underbellies.

Here's how Jane Wiedlin put it before the Go-Go's farewell tour, which launched in Clearwater in 2016: "We're getting a little bit older, touring's a little bit harder. Over the years, we've all sort of become our own person, and we all have our own lives, and there's just other stuff to do."

Not every late-in-life artist feels the need to rubber-stamp a tour with a big, bold FAREWELL. Tony Bennett, who plays the Mahaffey Theater in February, is 91, but he's also been here nine times since turning 80. Same with Willie Nelson (84), Frankie Valli (83), Jerry Lee Lewis (82) and Buddy Guy (81), all of whom have local shows coming up. None is billed as a final, fond farewell, even if it's eminently possible one will be.

"Johnny Mathis," said Rossi, who booked the legendary crooner this month. "Here's a great example of a guy who's in his early 80s, still sounds phenomenal, looks great, doesn't need to tour -- but he loves to play. So he hand-picks where he goes, and it's like four shows a month. He does it in his own way. He'll never do a farewell tour."

Scott Ian of Anthrax, one of the bands opening Slayer's farewell tour, said that as long as he's having fun on stage, he can't imagine hanging up his guitar -- especially not as long as his own heroes Judas Priest and Iron Maiden are still out on the road.

"Iron Maiden couldn't be more at the top of their game, and look how long they've been around," said Ian, 54. "If these guys are still doing it, and they're six to 10 to 15 years older than I am, and I can still go see their shows and walk away going, 'g-?- d-?-?-, that was great,' it makes me feel like I can do that, too."

That's why some farewell tours end up being anything but. It's like retirement in the real world: Sometimes it just doesn't stick.

"They get out there and they realize they don't play golf, they don't play tennis," Rossi said. "What they love to do is play. So they come back."

And so with more farewell tours promised in 2018 and 2019, including global runs by Ozzy Osbourne (69) and Anita Baker (59), it remains worth taking some of these grandiose goodbyes with a tiny grain of salt.

In 2016, Barry Manilow brought his One Last Time! Tour to Tampa. Before the show, which drew about 8,000 fans to Amalie Arena, I asked him if that meant this really was the last time we'd see him in these parts.

"It very well could be," he said gravely. "It very well could be."

Tickets to see Manilow next month at Sarasota's Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall start around $200.

Contact Jay Cridlin at cridlin@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8336. Follow @JayCridlin.