Recent career
Burton's later career included work with John Denver, Merle Haggard, Rodney Crowell, and Emmylou Harris. Beginning with King of America (1986), Burton recorded and toured with Elvis Costello intermittently for about a decade. In 1988, he was a prominent part of the acclaimed Cinemax special, Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. In 1990, Burton moved back to his hometown of Shreveport permanently.
Between 1998 and 2013, Burton played lead guitar in Elvis: The Concert which reunited some of Presley's former TCB bandmates, background singers, and Presley's orchestral conductor Joe Guercio (mostly from the "concert years" 1969–1977) live on stage.
In fall 2004, Burton recorded Matt Lucas-Back in the Saddle Again, a sequel to the Matt Lucas album The Chicago Sessions. The album features rockabilly and country music, and was released in May 2006 by Ten O Nine Records.
In 2005, Burton started the annual James Burton International Guitar Festival to raise money for his charitable foundation. The festival is held in the Red River District of Shreveport.
In 2007, he was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN as a member of the L.A. session player group known as The Wrecking Crew. In 2008, Burton was asked by Brad Paisley to play on his upcoming album Play: The Guitar Album. Burton was featured on an instrumental track called "Cluster Pluck", which also featured Vince Gill, Albert Lee, Steve Wariner, John Jorgenson, Brent Mason, and Redd Volkaert. At the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009, the song won Best Country Instrumental Performance.
On August 22, 2009, on stage at his James Burton International Guitar Festival, James Burton was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. On July 15, 2010, Rolling Stone Magazine announced that Eric Clapton and James Burton would provide guitars on the track "You Can Have Her" for Jerry Lee Lewis' album Mean Old Man, scheduled for release in fall 2010. Burton also joined Jerry Lee Lewis on "Swinging Doors" on the same album. In 2011, Burton was named one of "Five Living Legends of Shreveport" by Danny Fox of KWKH radio. On June 9, 2012, Burton appeared in Shreveport at the Municipal Auditorium for a presentation of Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion.
In 2019, for the first time since 2014, the TCB Band performed a new Elvis: The Concert-style show, alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, combining elements from the 2016-2018 Presley/Philharmonic tours with the old 1997-2014 TCB Band tours; however, no further tours with the TCB Band members were booked after this point.
In March 2020, it was announced that Burton and producer T-Bone Burnett were collaborating with Jerry Lee Lewis and recording a new album of gospel covers. It was the first time Lewis had entered a recording studio following his stroke. As of 2023, it is unknown how much progress was made with this gospel album, or if it was ever completed, as nothing from these sessions has been released; Lewis later recorded another gospel album with his cousin Jimmy Swaggart that was unrelated to the 2020 project with Burnett and Burton.
In 2022 and early 2023, Burton was sidelined due to contracting the coronavirus, being diagnosed with kidney cancer, and breaking his hip. In June 2023, Burton led an all-star group of guest musicians at the London Palladium for a concert event named "James Burton & Friends: One Night Only". The event featured Burton joined by Sir Brian May of Queen, Albert Lee, Van Morrison, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Ronnie Wood, and Elvis Costello. In September 2023, Burton contributed to recordings for Brad Paisley's upcoming album Son of the Mountains.
In January 2024, Burton participated in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, riding on a Louisiana-themed float. Also in 2024, Burton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
