While most of us look forward to giving up work in our later years, some people love their jobs so much that retirement is simply out of the question. 

From actors to models to music moguls, read on to discover the famous faces working well into their golden years. 

All dollar amounts in US dollars.

One of the best-selling musicians of all time, Sir Elton John wrapped his final tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road, in 2023. But that doesn't mean he's leaving music behind for good.

On 4 April, John will release his new album Who Believes In Angels?, a collaboration with American singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile. Two singles, the title track and Never Too Late, have already been released.

Spanning six epic decades, Cher's entertainment career has truly stood the test of time. The 78-year-old star most recently lent her voice to the TV series Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?

You might also be surprised to learn that the glamorous pop diva recently produced a 2024 horror movie called Little Bites.

Scottish actor Brian Cox made his theatre debut in 1961 and has since gone on to appear in a number of major Hollywood movies, including Braveheart and The Bourne Identity.

In more recent times, Cox starred in HBO's award-winning drama Succession between 2018 and 2023 and last year voiced a character in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

Sylvester Stallone became a household name with his starring role in 1977's Rocky, a film for which he also wrote the script.

The 78-year-old star shows no signs of stepping away from the spotlight anytime soon, despite his mammoth fortune. Recent credits include the gritty Paramount+ crime series Tulsa King and the action-packed Expend4bles.

He was also the subject of a 2023 Netflix documentary titled Sly.

Country music icon Dolly Parton released her debut record in 1967. Since then, she's gone on to write more than 3,000 songs and release almost 50 albums.

Her latest album, Rockstar, dropped in late 2023 and features nine original tracks plus 21 covers of rock and roll classics.

"I would never retire. I’ll just hopefully drop dead in the middle of a song on stage someday, hopefully one I've written", Parton recently said in an interview with Greatest Hits Radio.

Versatile actor John Lithgow has enjoyed a decades-spanning career, with roles in everything from the crime drama Dexter to playing Winston Churchill in The Crown.

Earlier this year, the 79-year-old actor confirmed he will play Albus Dumbledore in the upcoming Harry Potter TV adaptation.

In a candid interview, Lithgow admitted taking on the iconic role was a difficult decision. "It's going to define me for the last chapter of my life, I'm afraid," he said, adding, "I'll be about 87 years old at the wrap party, but I've said yes."

The Blondie frontwoman has been rocking the stage since the 1970s and has no plans to hang up her mic.

In 2011, Harry said of retirement, "I want to keep doing things. I don't want to retire. I know that I can't front a pop or rock band forever, but I would certainly like to keep writing or maybe start a clothing business."

In 2023, the star performed at the Glastonbury Festival, where she looked decades younger than her real age in a black sequin mini dress and knee-high leather boots. 

Priscilla was thrust into the spotlight at 21 years old following her 1967 marriage to Elvis Presley.

Since then, she's become famous in her own right, thanks to her decades-spanning acting career and status as a fashion icon.

In recent times, the 79-year-old star had a vocal role in the Netflix animated series Agent Elvis, and she executive produced the recent biopic Priscilla, based on her best-selling book Elvis and Me.

Hollywood royalty Dame Helen Mirren began her acting career in the late 1960s and continues to star in movies to this day.

In the last few years alone, Dame Helen has played a god in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, appeared in a Kendrick Lamar music video, and performed a vocal role in the star-studded Barbie movie.

The 79-year-old actress is currently starring in the acclaimed Western series 1923.

The last surviving members of the English rock band The Who, 80-year-old Roger Daltrey (pictured left) and 79-year-old Pete Townshend (pictured right), continue to record and tour.

However, it was reported in April 2023 that the pair are considering retirement in the near future, with Townshend telling The Sun: "It's difficult to make a decision going forward, to say we're going to do this or that, because we don't know how well we're going to be or how fit we're going to be. We're both old." 

British musician Sir Rod Stewart had already played in several bands before releasing his breakthrough album Every Picture Tells a Story in 1971. Since then, he's sold more than 250 million records worldwide, and he hasn't stopped adding to his archive.

Stewart toured extensively throughout 2023, including a 12-day Las Vegas residency, and recently dropped a collaborative album, Swing Fever, with Jools Holland.

"I shall never retire! I was put on this earth to be a singer and will keep doing so for as long as the good Lord lets me", the 79-year-old shared on X last year. True to his word, he's landed the prestigious legends slot at this year's Glastonbury Festival.

Diana Ross was crowned the Female Entertainer of the Century by Billboard in 1976, although it's not just the 20th century that's brought her success.

Ross rose to fame as the lead singer of The Supremes in the 1960s and released her first solo album in 1970. The recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the singer released her 25th studio album, Thank You, in November 2021.

Diana even wowed the crowds at Glastonbury in 2022, where she played the festival's legendary Sunday afternoon slot. She has tour dates lined up throughout 2025 and 2026.

Hollywood icon Robert De Niro, famed for flicks including Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, has been acting since the 1960s.

The 81-year-old star shows no sign of slowing down, professionally or personally. He recently starred in the 2025 Netflix series Zero Day and also welcomed his seventh child in 2023.

Sir Mick Jagger, 81, and his Rolling Stones bandmates – Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, who are 81 and 77 years old respectively – toured together in summer 2022.

Sadly, the shows had to take place without their drummer Charlie Watts, who passed away in 2021. 

The Stones don't like to sit still, though, and released their latest album, Hackney Diamonds, in October 2023. Meanwhile, the band's 2024 tour was sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons, with the advocacy group hoping to showcase that older people still rock!

Christopher Walken once told The Irish Times, "I’ve never had hobbies, just a strong work ethic like my father. Tennis? Swimming? Golf? They never did it for me. Acting is really what I love. I don’t really like to go out of the house unless I’m working."

The screen icon's work ethic is admirable; he made his acting debut in the 1953 TV series The Wonderful John Acton at age 10 and hasn't stopped since.

Currently, the 81-year-old is starring in the Apple TV+ sci-fi series Severance.

Despite his surname, 81-year-old Monty Python star Eric Idle is anything but work-shy. The screen veteran recently revealed he's still working for "financial reasons".

Idle formed the Monty Python comedy troupe in the 1960s, but despite its success, he revealed in a series of posts on the social media platform X that the group no longer makes money. "I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded. Python is a disaster," he said, adding, "I have to work for my living. Not easy at this age.”

Idle, who survived pancreatic cancer in 2022, continues to write comedy content and recently appeared on the TV competition The Masked Singer.

Creed Bratton has worn many hats over the years. As an actor, singer, and former member of the rock band The Grass Roots, Bratton has been working since the 1960s. 

Perhaps best known to some for his role in The Office, which saw him play a fictionalised version of himself, Bratton most recently starred in the 2025 musical movie Bart Bagalzby and the Garbage Genie.

For decades, director Martin Scorsese has delivered cinematic gems such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. Now 82, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker continues to hone his craft.

His latest movie, the Western drama Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, hit the silver screen in October 2023. He currently has a mammoth 15 projects in the pipeline, including small-screen adaptations of his movies Cape Fear and Gangs of New York.

At 82, Sir Paul McCartney is as active as ever. The former Beatles and Wings frontman is still producing plenty of music and performing on sell-out tours for the pure pleasure of it – after all, as a billionaire he certainly doesn't need the money.

McCartney surprised fans on his recent tour by playing a poignant virtual duet with John Lennon. The moving performance was courtesy of technology created by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, who also helmed the 2021 Disney+ docu-series The Beatles: Get Back. 

Harrison Ford is arguably one of Hollywood's all-time greats thanks to his iconic roles in the Indiana Jones and Star Wars film franchises. The 82-year-old action hero shows no signs of slowing down and recently appeared in the Marvel Blockbuster Captain America: Brave New World.

During an appearance on NBC's Today show in 2019, Ford made it clear that he wasn't giving up his role as the adventure-prone archaeology professor: "Nobody is going to be Indiana Jones, don't you get it? I'm Indiana Jones," he declared. "When I'm gone, he's gone."

It sounds like no new actors will be trying to fill Indy's boots any time soon.

Paul Simon, known as one half of the folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel and a successful solo artist, has been creating chart-topping music for over six decades.

Despite suffering from hearing loss, the 83-year-old singer-songwriter has scheduled tour dates throughout 2025.

American businesswoman, author, and TV personality Martha Stewart has been building her lifestyle empire since the launch of her first cookbook, Entertaining, in 1982.

The acclaimed entrepreneur hosts the TV series Martha Cooks and, in 2023, made history as the oldest model to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated's famous annual swimsuit issue.

Legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has had a music career spanning nearly six decades.

Since 1988, he has been continuously performing on what is famously called the Never Ending Tour. In June 2023, he released his latest album, Shadow Kingdom. 

The star also has a side hustle in the form of his Heaven's Door whisky brand. 

Soul icon Dionne Warwick is still belting out hits in her 80s, with a documentary about her life, Don't Make Me Over, released in 2021.

Warwick also shocked and delighted her fans in equal measure back in 2020 when she was unveiled as Mouse on hit TV show The Masked Singer. The star also has tour dates lined up throughout 2025.

Some might say that Ringo Starr looks decades younger than his 84 years.

The former Beatles legend, who's thought to be the richest drummer in the world, could easily retire in a heartbeat. However, he's still working hard and released a new EP titled Crooked Boy for Record Store Day in April last year. 

Famous for hits like It's Not Unusual and Delilah, Sir Tom Jones has enjoyed a legendary career spanning decades.

At 84, he shows no signs of slowing down, with tour dates scheduled throughout 2025. He's also set to headline the Hampton Court Palace Festival this summer.

Al Pacino may well be 84, but that didn't stop him from starring in two Oscar-nominated films in 2019: The Irishman and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

More recently, Pacino appeared in the Amazon Prime Video series Hunters and appeared in a Bad Bunny music video. His latest movie, Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness, hit screens last year. 

Chart-topping singer Candi Staton has been making music since the 1960s and is still going strong at 84.

Best known for her iconic dance anthem Young Hearts Run Free, she continues to perform live, including a notable appearance at Glastonbury Festival in 2023.

Margaret Atwood, 85, wrote her first book in 1961 and has penned various bestselling novels over the years.

Arguably her most famous is The Handmaid's Tale, with its sequel, The Testaments, published in 2019 following the success of the TV series based on the original 1985 book.

Her latest book, Paper Boat, a collection of poetry, was published in 2024.

Lily Tomlin started out as a stand-up comedian in the 1960s before landing her big break on the variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in 1969.

Living proof that age is just a number, the 85-year-old actress produced and starred in the Netflix series Grace and Frankie until 2022.

Recent projects include comedy flicks 80 for Brady and Moving On.

Sir Ian McKellen, arguably best known for playing Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movie franchise, has enjoyed a career that spans more than six decades.

The British actor, 85, recently returned to the stage as Shakespeare's Falstaff in Player Kings. However, after suffering a fall during the play, he confessed to Big Issue magazine that he was taking the rest of the year off work. "Not because I need to, just because I want to,” he explained. 

McKellen is not planning on retiring, though, and revealed during the same interview that he would be open to reprising the role of Gandalf in future LOTR projects. “I’ve just been told there are going to be more films and Gandalf will be involved and they hope that I’ll be playing him. When? I don’t know. What the script is? It’s not written yet. So they better be quick!”

Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola has brought the world numerous iconic films over the years, including Apocalypse Now and The Godfather, and he still isn't done with his craft.

The 85-year-old recently finished his passion project Megalopolis, which he first started writing back in the 1980s. 

Production on the movie, which was released last year, finally began in 2022. Reports suggest that Coppola financed the film with $100 million (£79m) of his own cash.

This legendary star of stage and screen might be 87, but that didn't stop him from scooping up his second Best Actor award at the 2021 Oscars for his role in The Father.

Proving that he's not one to shy away from technology, the critically acclaimed star has also made headlines in recent times by buying and selling NFTs. In 2022, he unveiled his first NFT series, The Eternal Collection, which featured digital images of Hopkins as characters he played during his career.

Recently, he starred in the 2024 Roman Empire series Those About to Die.

Jane Fonda is 87, yet she positively radiates youth. The actress and activist recently starred in the comedy flicks Book Club: The Next Chapter and 80 for Brady.

Fonda, who shows no signs of retiring anytime soon, also has a vocal role in the recently released family flick Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.

Britain's greatest living artist, David Hockney, 87, says he carries on working because it makes him feel young.

"When I'm working, I feel like Picasso, I feel I'm 30," he admitted in a 2014 interview with The Observer. "When I stop, I know I'm not, but when I paint, I stand up for six hours a day and yeah, I feel I'm 30."

Even though he never seems to age, Morgan Freeman is actually 87 years old. But much like the other famous names on our list, he's not giving up the day job anytime soon.

Last year, he appeared in the dark comedy movie My Dead Friend Zoe. He has several upcoming projects in the pipeline, including reprising his role as Thaddeus Bradley in Now You See Me 3.

After finding fame on the stage as a child, Dame Julie Andrews made her film debut in Disney's 1964 musical movie Mary Poppins.

Her illustrious career includes a number of iconic leading roles, including Maria von Trapp in 1965's The Sound of Music and Queen Clarisse in 2001's The Princess Diaries.

Andrews has also lent her distinctive voice to characters in Shrek, Aquaman, and, more recently, the Netflix period drama Bridgerton. 

Illustrious British actress Dame Judi Dench, who is 90, told The Telegraph in 2015 that she considered 'retirement' to be a rude word.

Most recently, Dench starred in the 2022 Christmas flick Spirited alongside Will Ferell and Ryan Reynolds. Dench recently revealed she can no longer leave her house alone due to her deteriorating eyesight but has previously said she's determined to keep working despite her health issues.

In 1999, actress Sophia Loren was recognised by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest stars of classical Hollywood cinema, and she's one of the last surviving big-name stars from that particular period.

On the subject of quitting her work, Loren once revealed to The Associated Press: "That's terrible, the word retire. Never. Start always like it was the beginning of a long career."

In a Vogue interview before her 90th birthday, she said, "Never more than at the threshold of 90 have I realised that age is a state of mind." 

Giorgio Armani has vowed to carry on working until he drops.

The Italian fashion designer still controls the fashion empire he founded in 1975, and evidently has the energy of a man decades younger than his 90 years.

Puerto Rican star Rita Moreno has been acting since her screen debut in the 1950 drama So Young, So Bad, and is one of the few stars to have won the prestigious EGOT – an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony – quartet of awards throughout her career. 

At 93 years old, Moreno is as booked and busy as ever. In 2023 alone, she appeared in the TV shows Lopez vs. Lopez and Princess Power. Last year, Mattel released a Barbie doll in her honour.

Widely considered to be the world's oldest working supermodel, Carmen Dell’Orefice still struts down catwalks and appears in magazine editorials.

Now 93, the American beauty first appeared on the cover of American Vogue at the age of 15. She starred on the front cover of the Czech edition of Vogue in April 2023.

In 2021, actor William Shatner officially became the oldest person to ever travel to space, blasting off in a Blue Origin craft. So it's safe to say he's in no rush to slow down.

Shatner recently had a vocal role in the 2022 family-friendly flick Fireheart. He also made an appearance at the 2023 edition of the Texas-held arts festival SXSW, where he delighted Star Trek fans by recalling how he first landed his iconic role as Captain Kirk. 

He's pictured here at the Los Angeles Premiere of the documentary You Can Call Me Bill in March 2024.

Clint Eastwood, 94, clearly has no desire to stop working. The iconic actor and filmmaker most recently helmed the 2024 crime movie Juror #2.

In an interview, the five-time Oscar winner said that retirement wasn't an option for him after he saw what happened to his father, once revealing: "All he ever dreamed about was retiring. And so he did, at around 60. He didn't last very long."

British model Daphne Selfe, who at 96 is even older than Carmen Dell'Orefice, returned to work in the fashion industry at the age of 70 after her husband died.

In 2014, she was acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the Oldest Professional Fashion Model. Selfe is still landing plenty of jobs and has modelled for the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, and TK Maxx over the years.

Legendary nonagenarian naturalist Sir David Attenborough admitted to the Independent in 2016 that "putting your feet up is all very well, but it's very boring".

As such, Attenborough is busy continuing to present nature documentaries for the BBC. Last year, he helmed the miniseries Mammals. 

Famous for his hilarious attempt at a London accent in the original 1964 Mary Poppins movie, Van Dyke made a cameo in the sequel, which hit cinemas at the end of 2018.

In 2023 alone, he voiced himself in an episode of The Simpsons and appeared in the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives.

At the remarkable age of 99, Van Dyke shows no signs of slowing down. He's next set to star in the upcoming comedy film Capture the Flag, which revolves around elderly war veterans.

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