“This will be the last time I’ll have the joy of appearing on the Isle of Wight,” said rock music legend, Rick Wakeman, who is bringing his final solo piano tour to Shanklin next month.

Rick, 75, is giving up touring as a solo artist to find time to record and write.

“There are so many other things I want to do,” Rick told the Isle of Wight County Press when asked why he was calling it a day on performing on his own.

“Something's got to give so I thought I would bring my one-man-shows to an end,” going on to explain he is working on music for children and schools.

Rick will play Shanklin Theatre on Wednesday, September 11 and is promising his greatest hits, stories and some surprises.

“I want people to go home with a smile on their face,” Rick said.

“You try and change the setlist around every now and then but it doesn’t work if I don’t play Morning has Broken or Life on Mars.”

No stranger to the Island, Rick has been visiting since the ‘mid 1950s’ and even almost moved here.

He is a patron of the Isle of Wight charity, Friends of the Animals, and said he is ‘very proud’ to be associated with them.

“I always enjoy going to the Friends of the Animals and seeing the team.

“It’s wonderful what they do. They don’t just save animals, they help them.”

Both Rick and his wife are patrons of multiple animal welfare charities and the pair have three rescue dogs.

“I personally would love to see puppy farms closed down because we don’t need them,” Rick said.

Quoting his friend, Downton Abbey star Peter Egan, Rick said that ‘somebody has to speak for the voiceless ones.’

Rick added that it was Carry On actor, and former Isle of Wight resident, Jack Douglas, that introduced him to Friends of the Animals.

From Glastonbury to Hampton Court Palace, Rick has performed at some prestigious events and earlier this year, he took to the stage at Starmus, the festival set up by Queen guitarist Brian May and astronomer Garik Israelien.

Rick was invited to write and perform a piece of music for Dr Jane Goodall, the ground breaking primatologist and climate campaigner best known for her observation of chimpanzees.

“Jane has been amazing at what she has done with her studies of animals,” Rick said.

“I felt very honoured to have met her.”

Later in the year, Rick will head to America for the second leg of his tour, before getting festive in November and December for his Yuletide Christmas Shows.

Promising that the shows will be ‘quite Christmassy,’ Rick will be joined by his son, Adam Wakeman, and singer Mollie Marriott.