Retire? Liars! 12 Musical Acts Who Decided Goodbye Doesn't Mean Forever

KISS' pants on fire? Thanksgiving Day performers are among a dozen ''retirees'' who got on the road again
By Eric Renner Brown
Updated November 27, 2014 at 05:00 PM EST

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Cher

Credit: Michael Caulfield/WireImage

Retirement: The (thonged) butt of every industry retirement joke launched her Farewell Tour in 2002...
Return: ...which earned $260 million and lasted three years. In 2008 she said yes to three more at Caesars Palace.

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Jay Z

Credit: Michael Caulfield/WireImage

Retirement: Hova threw himself a star-packed ''retirement party'' at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 25, 2003.
Return: He said he was done with studio albums, but a Linkin Park collab came in '04, then a solo disc in '06.

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Garth Brooks

Credit: KMazur/WireImage

Retirement: Did alter ego Chris Gaines make him do it? In 2000 Garth bowed out to be with family.
Return: Whatever Vegas wants, Vegas gets. He signed on for a five-year Sin City residency in 2009.

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Barbra Streisand

Credit: M. Caulfield/WireImage

Retirement: Babs took several breaks but said she was done performing for good in 2000.
Return: Nevah mind! By 2006 she was back with her first U.S. tour since 1994; it earned more than $90 million.

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KISS

Credit: George De Sota/Liaison

Retirement: After a short-lived reunion of its original lineup in 1996, KISS ''officially'' called it quits with a 142-date farewell tour.
Return: The band continues to chug along with founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, but lead guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss haven't joined them on a concert stage since 2004.

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Mase

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Retirement: In 1999 the rapper went on the iconic New York City rap station Hot 97 to announce that he was forsaking the hip-hop lifestyle and devoting himself to religion to avoid hell.
Return: Mase risked eternal damnation to put out his third LP, Welcome Back, in 2004, and has also appeared on remixes of tracks by Drake, Kanye West, and Trey Songz.

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Hole

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Retirement: Following an acrimonious 1999 tour with Marilyn Manson, Melissa auf der Maur and Samantha Maloney quit the band. Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson officially disbanded Hole in 2002.
Return: In 2009, Love caught her former bandmates unaware when she announced Hole was reuniting. The band—which contained no other original members aside from Love—played a number of gigs and released 2010's tepidly received Nobody's Daughter.

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Frank Sinatra

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Retirement: Following decades of chart-topping films and singles, a 55-year-old Sinatra announced his retirement at a 1971 concert in Hollywood.
Return: Blame Nixon. The president persuaded Sinatra to sing at a Young Voters Rally in Chicago just sixteen months after his ''retirement.'' In 1973, Sinatra returned in full force, with a television special and corresponding album, both titled Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back.

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The Eagles

Credit: AP

Retirement: Band tensions boiled over at a 1980 Long Beach gig that later became known as ''Long Night at Wrong Beach.'' The band completed their contractual obligation for a live album from opposite coasts.
Return: After reuniting in 1994, singer-guitarist Glenn Frey claimed the band ''just took a 14-year vacation.'' They released the wryly-titled live album Hell Freezes Over later that year and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

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Chris Brown

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Retirement: Plagued by legal trouble for years, Brown announced in August 2013 that he might retire—after he released his sixth studio album, X.
Return: X was released in September 2014, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Because Brown deleted his speculative tweet, it seems safe to assume he had a change of heart.

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Ozzy Osbourne

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Retirement: Everyone's favorite bat snacker embarked on the No More Tours tour in 1992.
Return: By mid-1995 he was back with the Retirement Sucks tour—and started the behemoth Ozzfest in '96.

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Justin Bieber

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Retirement: Merry Christmas, non-Beliebers! Bieber tweeted that he was retiring on Christmas Eve 2013, effectively making or breaking the holiday season for millions of music fans.
Return: Less than an hour later, the singer walked back his statements via Twitter, with representatives later confirming he was just ''playing along'' with ''baseless rumors.'' Sorry, Bieber haters. Also, Santa isn't real.

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By Eric Renner Brown