- 7 weeks ago
Some farewells are felt long after the final note fades. Join us as we look back at the last times iconic songs were performed live by the legendary artists who made them unforgettable. From intimate jazz club jams to rooftop concerts and sold-out arenas, these final performances carry an emotional weight that transcends music history. Which of these legendary last performances would you have loved to witness?
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00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at 10 final times some iconic songs were performed live
00:09by either artists who originally released them or made them popular.
00:14Note, for some entries, only audio recordings exist,
00:18so we've tried our best to pair performances that are at least close to the legendary live performances chosen for
00:24this list.
00:24No time for losers, because we are the champions!
00:35Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin.
00:38When Led Zeppelin reunited at London's O2 Arena for the 2007 Ahmet Erdogan tribute concert,
00:44they carried the weight of rock history on their shoulders.
00:47There's a lady who's shown how likely turns his gold.
00:54One million fans reportedly entered a lottery for tickets.
00:58Filling his late father's throne on drums, Jason Bonham joined Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones
01:04to deliver a stadium-shaking Stairway to Heaven to 20,000 spellbound fans.
01:09If there's a fuss on your head drum, don't be alarmed.
01:14Plant's vocals soared, while Page unleashed the double-neck Gibson for one last outing on the song that defined their
01:21legacy.
01:28Captured on the concert film Celebration Day, the performance went on to earn the band its first competitive Grammy Award
01:34in 2014.
01:36With this, audiences who missed the reunion got to experience the moment, and the farewell echoed through generations.
01:47Heart-shaped box, Nirvana.
01:50Holding barely 3,050 people, Munich's converted airplane hangar felt oppressive on March 1, 1994,
01:57as Nirvana took the stage for what would be their final live performance.
02:01Trains me back up, I'll see you, I'll be wrong.
02:08Battling severe laryngitis and bronchitis, Kurt Cobain rasped through heart-shaped box over a murky feedback-laden mix that mirrored
02:17his internal state.
02:18I wish I could bleach your cancer when you die.
02:25Cobain's strained, cracking vocals gave the caustic In Utero single an uncomfortably raw edge,
02:32turning the song into a visceral document of pure exhaustion.
02:36Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,
02:40wait.
02:40It closed the night, and just over a month later, before the European tour could resume, Cobain was dead.
02:47Although the show was not considered one of the band's strongest,
02:50its historical significance transformed that imperfect Munich set as one of Grunge's defining final live statements.
02:58We're back!
03:06Imagine John Lennon.
03:08On August 30th, 1972, John Lennon took the stage at a packed Madison Square Garden for the One-to-One
03:16Benefit Concert.
03:20It was one of the most important events of his career, raising funds for children with intellectual disabilities.
03:27You may say I'm a dreamer.
03:33Dressed in his iconic fatigued jacket, Lennon sat at his electric piano alongside Yoko Ono and the Elephant's Memory Band
03:40to deliver an intimate rendition of Imagine.
03:43It was his only full-length solo concert after leaving the Beatles, and he had no idea it would also
03:50be his last full show independently.
03:52No need for greed or hunger.
03:56After Lennon's murder eight years later, the song gained even greater cultural significance.
04:08Can't help falling in love.
04:10Elvis Presley.
04:12Nearly 18,000 fans filled Indianapolis' Market Square Arena on June 26th, 1997.
04:19With no inkling, they were watching Elvis Presley's final bow.
04:31Wisely frail and battered by severe health crises, the King still worked through an 80-minute, 21-song set.
04:39He summoned every remaining drop of charisma to belt out his immortal closing with the tender ballad, Can't Help Falling
04:46In Love.
04:53In a stage tradition he'd kept since 1970, he tossed his sweat-soaked scarves into the crowd under deafening applause.
05:01Fans reportedly urged to get more from their idol, not knowing there'd be no more nights left to give it.
05:12Seven weeks later, Presley died at Graceland at just 42, with the Indianapolis show becoming the icon's closing chapter.
05:29Watching iconic stars like Elvis performing live is captivating, right?
05:34Now you see why joining WatchMojo's 24-7 live stream is a great idea.
05:39Scan the QR code on the screen to join us for non-stop pop culture fun.
05:44This thing has got to be on television, and so you've got to be in it.
05:49So watch yourself.
05:52Redemption Song, Bob Marley.
05:55Fighting the deadly disease that was rapidly consuming his body,
05:58Bob Marley took the stage at Pittsburgh's Stanley Theater on September 23, 1980.
06:05All pirates, yes, there are by
06:09Sold I to the merchant ships
06:13Stripping away the whalers' full reggae backing,
06:16Marley stood essentially alone with an acoustic guitar to sing Redemption Song.
06:21Won't you have to sing
06:25Another song of freedom
06:27His fragile, luminous delivery of Marcus Garvey's words on mental slavery
06:33Landed like a spiritual sermon.
06:35It was the final show of the Uprising tour,
06:38and the last concert Marley would ever perform
06:41before passing away just eight months later.
06:43How long shall they kill our prophets
06:47While we stand aside and look
06:50Interestingly, the studio version
06:53Had only just appeared on the Uprising album months earlier.
06:57This means that the live rendition
06:59Was a rare glimpse of Marley
07:01Presenting one of his most intimate songs on stage
07:04Before illness silenced him for good.
07:08Redemption Song
07:10Sing it on
07:12Redemption Song
07:14Summertime, Janis Joplin
07:17Under evening lights and packed well past capacity,
07:22Harvard Stadium hosted Janis Joplin's final concert on August 12, 1970.
07:33It was part of the season-long Schaefer Music Festival
07:36rather than the peace benefit shows often credited.
07:39An estimated 40,000 fans waited through a long delay
07:43Before Joplin, backed by her newly formed full-tilt boogie band,
07:47Tore into a gravelly, blue-soaked summertime.
07:56Her explosive vocal range pushed the jazz standard
08:00Into a psych-rock masterpiece
08:01Showing an artist operating at the absolute peak
08:05Of her expressive powers
08:16Less than two months later
08:18An accidental overdose
08:20Ended her life at 27
08:22This passionate Cambridge night
08:24Stands as the last recorded document
08:26Of her legendary voice
08:28Before her posthumous album
08:30Pearl made history
08:39Mother Earth
08:41Jimi Hendrix
08:42The final moments Jimi Hendrix spent on stage
08:46Happened almost by accident
08:56On September 16, 1970
08:59Hendrix wandered into Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London
09:02And sat in on a late-night set
09:04By Eric Burden and War
09:06He later jammed on Tobacco Road
09:09And an extended blues workout
09:10That's long been remembered
09:12As Mother Earth
09:17The tiny crowd watched brilliant, loose improvisations
09:20From a genius at work
09:22His time on stage lasted only minutes
09:25But witnesses described the excitement
09:27With no idea they were witnessing his last performance
09:38Just over 36 hours later
09:40Hendrix was found dead in a London hotel room
09:43At the age of 27
09:45What began as a spontaneous unbilled jam
09:49Became an unplanned farewell
09:50To electric guitar's greatest innovator
10:03Get back
10:04The Beatles
10:05On January 30, 1969
10:08The Beatles staged their legendary rooftop concert
10:12Atop Apple Corps headquarters
10:13It was their first live show
10:22In roughly two and a half years
10:24So they went all in
10:26They tore through five songs
10:27Across nine takes
10:29For stunned office workers below
10:31Closing on Get Back
10:33Before police moved in
10:34Over a noise complaint
10:36All the girls around me said
10:38She's got it coming
10:39But she can see why she can
10:42This created an ending
10:44That felt almost cinematic
10:46And even prompted Paul McCartney
10:48To freestyle lyrics about getting arrested
10:51Oh she gets angry
10:52She's gonna have you arrested
10:53Get back
10:55Captured for the documentary
10:56Let It Be
10:57That unplanned finale marked
10:59The last time the Fab Four
11:01Performed together in public
11:02Decades later
11:03Restored footage in Peter Jackson's
11:06Docu-series Get Back
11:07Introduced that freezing rooftop farewell
11:09To an entirely new generation of fans
11:20We are the champions
11:22Queen
11:23Some 120,000 fans packed
11:27Nebworth Park on August 9th, 1986
11:30For the final stop of Queen's magic tour
11:33Unaware they were watching
11:35Freddie Mercury's last show with the band
11:37We are the champions
11:40My friends
11:44After tearing through
11:46We Will Rock You
11:47And Friends Will Be Friends
11:48Mercury led the crowd
11:50Through a triumphant
11:51We are the champions
11:52No time for losers
11:56We are the champions
12:01He then returned
12:03Draped in a jeweled crown
12:05And red fake fur cape
12:06For the traditional
12:07God Save the Queen send off
12:09Mercury's declining health
12:11Kept him off the road afterward
12:12Making that Nebworth stage performance
12:15His last bow with Queen
12:17Before his death
12:18In 1991
12:19Before we continue
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12:43Purple Rain
12:44Prince
12:45Just days before his sudden passing
12:48Prince gave fans
12:50A final emotional connection
12:52Through the song
12:53That defined his legacy
12:59During his April 14th, 2016 concert
13:03At Atlanta's Fox Theater
13:04He sat alone
13:05At a Purple Grand Piano
13:06Stripping away his usual
13:09High-octane production
13:10Only wanna see you baby
13:15Hit the purple rain
13:18Closing the late night show
13:20He delivered a soul-stirring
13:22Purple Rain
13:23His vocal execution
13:25Transformed his arena rock anthem
13:27Into a heartbreakingly vulnerable
13:28Gospel prayer
13:29That quieted the room
13:31Throughout the hall
13:37Every fan in attendance
13:39Was captivated
13:40None aware
13:41It would be his final public performance
13:43Prince was found dead
13:45Seven days later
13:46In his Paisley Park home
13:48At age 57
13:49Which of these live performances
13:52Would you have loved to witness?
13:54Let us know
13:55In the comments section
13:57Find word
13:58In the comments section
13:58Joanna
13:58In the comments section
14:00Bedrokes
14:00follows