When Elton John‘s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour finally gets going again next week in New Orleans, you might find that the Rocket Man has added something unexpected to his show.

In the time since Elton’s tour was halted by the pandemic, he’s released The Lockdown Sessions, which features him collaborating with everyone from Stevie Wonder and Stevie Nicks to Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa. His duet with Dua, “Cold Heart,” recently became his first U.S. top 10 hit in 24 years. 

Asked if any of those guest artists might show up to perform with Elton during the tour, his longtime guitarist and musical director Davey Johnstone hints at some sort of surprise.

“How can I put this? I can’t really tell you right now, but there might be something that will happen that is a bit different, that you wouldn’t expect,” Johnstone tells ABC Audio. “It’s not quite a guest, but almost…yeah, there might be something.”

Johnstone adds that Elton’s recent success on the charts has the pop-rock legend “thrilled,” and notes that it’s Elton’s manager and husband, David Furnish, who’s been able to “create a deeper kind of niche for themselves online with people that normally wouldn’t listen to Elton’s records.”

“They’ve targeted the online market and all the social platforms…that Elton wouldn’t do, ’cause he’s not technical at all,” notes Johnstone. “But Dave has done a brilliant job in sculpting and planning that whole thing for Elton.”

The tour starts January 19 in New Orleans, but Johnstone says he and the band are heading for the Big Easy on Friday to rehearse for a few days before Elton gets there.

“He hates to rehearse. He is very impatient. There’s no way he can do rehearsal,” Johnstone laughs. “He’s just, like, useless.”

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