Though their recordings will live forever, the live performances of music’s greatest icons — whether in front of hundreds of thousands of fans or in a far more intimate setting — must one day come to an end. In this gallery, Life.com looks back at some of music’s most memorable stage swan songs.

Pictured: In 1969, the Beatles (from left, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison, with Yoko Ono, seated, far right) performed for the last time on the rooftop of the Apple building on Savile Row, in London, for the documentary, Let It Be. Their last proper scheduled performance, however, was at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on Aug. 29, 1966.

see more — Swan Songs of Rock Legends