Michael Jordan
Jordan retired in 1993 — only to surprise us by making a comeback…in baseball. Then he returned to the NBA in 1995 – retiring again in 1999. He made another comeback to the NBA in 2001 – retiring again in 2003. Whew!
(AP Photo)
Brett Favre
Favre retired…then came back…then retired again! There has been speculation on Favre making another return. His brother, Scott, says no.
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Tina Turner
Turner retired in late 2000 after her groundbreaking Twenty Four Seven Tour ended. But she returned to do what she does best – perform live! She embarked on Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour in fall 2008.
(Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)
Cher
Cher came out of retirement after doing a 2002-2005 farewell tour – only to return in 2008 to perform at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and act in the musical Burlesque.
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Will Smith
Smith announced in Ebony in 1996 he was retiring from rap music (as part of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince). But he returned to rap music with Big Willie Style in 1997.
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Jay-Z
In 2003, Jay-Z announced his retirement. But he returned with a new album in 2006, Kingdom Come. During his ‘retirement’ he remained in the spotlight – collaborating with other artists and remaining a hip-hop mogul.
(Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for VEVO)
Tiki Barber
At the end of the 2006 NFL season, NY Giants running back Barber retired. He then tried to revamp his career as a NBC football analyst, but was eventually fired for misconduct. Barber wants to make a football comeback.
(Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
50 Cent
Everybody knows 50 Cent has a thing for rap beefs. But he could not put his walk where his talk was when he said if Kanye West’s Graduation album did better than his Curtis album (released in the same week) he would retire.
(Photo by Torsten Laursen/Getty Images)
Bow Wow
In 2008, Bow Wow announced his retirement – saying there is nothing left for him to do in the rap game. He inspired to be like movie star Will Smith. But Bow Wow’s next album, Underrated, will be released in the fall.
(Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
M.I.A.
Rapper M.I.A. confirmed in 2008 she would retire from the music industry. But since making that claim, she has scored a big hit, “Paper Planes”, and released a 2010 album, MAYA.
(File Photo)
Waka Flocka Flame
Waka Flocka has announced he is retiring because the rap game is “fake”. But will he actually go through with it and will he stay retired? Only time will tell.
(Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
Recently, Waka Flocka Flame confirmed on a radio show he plans to retire from rapping — after tweeting “this game 2 fake I [quit] rap after this year.”
Other rappers — Eminem and Lil Wayne — have been rumored to be considering retirement as well. But one wonders, will they actually leave the rap game anytime soon or better yet, stay retired?
Early retirements are not exclusive to hip-hop community. Over the years, plenty of other types of stars like Michael Jordan, Tiki Barber, Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Tina Turner — to name a few — have announced retirements that actually later became false farewells.
Check out a slideshow highlighting celebrities who once said they were moving on for good — only to return later.
