Surrounded by newly designed Elton John tour merch mixed with luxury goods from Fendi and Balenciaga at a special Rocket Man-themed pop-up shop at The Webster in the Beverly Center, David Furnish — husband and business partner to the beloved pop star — joked that everyone thinks his house looks just like this Los Angeles shrine to Elton.

“We do have a Captain Fantastic pinball machine at our home in Windsor,” he conceded to Billboard, sitting in an alcove at The Webster with that very arcade game as “Philadelphia Freedom” played over the speakers. “But we don’t play Elton John music around the clock in our house.”

For the last near-decade, Furnish has been helping Elton plan his retirement from the road, after 50-plus years of touring the world, and this pop-up shop is one of many special flourishes to send him off. “Elton said he wanted to go out on a high,” Furnish says.

So that’s the plan: He’ll end his U.S. tour dates with a trio of concerts at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium, including Sunday’s final show being livestreamed by Disney+ and including special guests Dua Lipa, Kiki Dee and Brandi Carlile. And all along, R.J. Cutler will continue to film the Disney+ documentary Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, along with Furnish as producer under his and Elton’s Rocket Entertainment.

“L.A. has always had that professional resonance,” Furnish says of why Dodger Stadium is the last U.S. tour stop, 47 years after Elton was the first solo artist to play the ballpark. “You know, we have a home here. Our sons were born next-door [to The Webster] at Cedars-Sinai; they’re coming in next week to come and see the shows. We have our annual Oscar party here; we’ve raised $95 million for the Elton John AIDS Foundation with that event for over 25 years. And so LA is a very, very special place for us.”

Below, find highlights from Billboard‘s chat with Furnish, including why Elton is retiring now, his continued relevance on our charts, and how the couple hoped music would be a “great healer” for Elton’s latest duet partner, Britney Spears.

Why is Elton John retiring from touring now?

I think the most important thing, and the most significant thing for us, is what this means to our family. Because as long as I’ve known Elton, he’s been on the road, doing 90 to 100 shows annually. It’s a big commitment. Time, travel, rest between shows. And now we have two beautiful sons; they’re going to be 12 and 10. And we were able to take them with us in the early days. And now they have their own lives. And that’s really important that they continue to have their own lives, their own identity, to not have their life defined by their father’s career.

On Elton John’s love affair with the Billboard charts, including two top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits this year: “Cold Heart” with Dua Lipa and “Hold Me Closer” with Britney Spears.

He gets your charts daily. He gets them printed out on hard copies. Because he goes through with highlighters. And he literally has different highlighters for different records he charts — ones from Britain, ones from America, the ones that are going up, ones that are his, ones that he has a connection to he. He watches it daily. It feeds a part of his soul. And he’s absolutely over the moon with the way these new records have performed. And you know, you’re gonna see more. Like, he’s not going to stop. And I’m excited for him and excited for what great music he can bring to the world. Our streaming numbers, to see that 58% of his music is now consumed by 18- to 35-year-olds — that is one of the things that I think of which he is most proud. That he’s written songs that survive, that stand the test of time, and that resonate with a whole new generation, that for him is is like, “Wow.”

Why Britney Spears was the perfect duet partner on “Hold Me Closer.”

During lockdown, we watched those documentaries that came out, and we weren’t aware of … we’d heard about the conservatorship, but we hadn’t understood the details and the practicality of it. It was really disturbing, like, “Oh my God, that poor girl, she’s just been in a prison for such a long time.” And as a recovering addict — both of us [David and Elton] are in recovery — we really understand the impact of trauma.

When I raised Britney [as a possible collaborator], [Elton] was like, “Oh, my God, she needs the hand to help take a step forward to get back onto the charts again.” And I think the outpouring that she got from her fans, you know, that it’s a great record, I know she’s genuinely chuffed to bits, as we say in England with the response that it’s had. And I hope and Elton hopes it gives her more courage and more of a sense to get back into the studio, because music is a great healer.

“Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium” will livestream Sunday at 11 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. PT on Disney+.

Her Loss, his win.

As has become the norm, a new Drake album’s yields a monster week on Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop charts, extending multiple records already safely in the superstar’s possession and pushing him dangerously closer toward a few that still elude him.

Her Loss, a collaborative album with 21 Savage, was released on Nov. 4 via OVO Sound/Republic. The set debuts at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart with 404,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Nov. 10, according to Luminate.

With the entry, 21 Savage obtains his third (and third consecutive) No. 1 on the list, after I Am > I Was led the list for two weeks in 2019 and Savage Mode II, with Metro Boomin, posted one week on top the following year.

Drake maintains his perfect run of 14 No. 1s among his 14 chart appearances, dating to the arrival of his first full-length album, Thank Me Later, in 2010. The achievement ties him with Jay-Z for the most No. 1s on the list among rappers, male artists and solo artists; only The Temptations, with 17 No. 1s, rank above the pair.

In the songs’ realm, “Rich Flex” leads the new recruits, as the title debuts at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. With the arrival, Drake secures his record-extending 26th champ on the list and creates more space between himself and the joint-second place holders, Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, who each hold 20 leaders.

As Drake’s count increases, here’s the current leaderboard for most No. 1s on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs since the chart became an all-encompassing genre survey in 1958:

26, Drake
20, Aretha Franklin
20, Stevie Wonder
17, James Brown
16, Janet Jackson
15, The Temptations
13, Marvin Gaye
13, Michael Jackson
13, Usher

21 Savage, meanwhile, picks up his fourth Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs No. 1, after a 14-week stay through his featured turn on Post Malone’s “Rockstar” (2017-18), a one-week reign with “My Life,” with with J. Cole and Morray (2021) and another week in charge with his prior Drake collab, “Jimmy Cooks,” this July.

Below “Rich Flex,” Drake and 21 Savage, either together or individually, fill out the rest of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs’ top 10 and land six more songs between Nos. 11 and 20. To recap all their Her Loss placements this week:

Position, Artist (all are Drake and 21 Savage, unless noted):
No. 1, “Rich Flex”
No. 2, “Major Distribution”
No. 3, “On BS”
No. 4, “Spin Bout U”
No. 5, “Pussy & Millions,” featuring Travis Scott
No. 6, “Privileged Rappers”
No. 7, “Circo Loco”
No. 8, “BackOutsideBoyz” (Drake)
No. 9, “Hours in Silence”
No. 10, “Broke Boys”
No. 12, “Treacherous Twins”
No. 13, “Middle of the Ocean” (Drake)
No. 14, “Jumbotron Shit Poppin” (Drake)
No. 15, “More M’s”
No. 16, “I Guess It’s F*ck Me” (Drake)
No. 19, “3AM on Glenwood” (21 Savage)

For the second time in his career, Drake runs a full shoutout of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs’ top 10. He previously managed the 10-for-10 on the chart dated Sept. 18, 2021, when tracks from his Certified Lover Boy album flooded the competition.

In addition to logging his 26th No. 1, the new haul pushes Drake’s already-record top 10 total to 117, and 21 Savage’s count climbs to 23 visits to the region.