He’s been dealing with it since the summer.
Months after dealing with a severe eye infection, Elton John said he’s still not able to see properly. On Sunday, John was speaking at a gala performance of The Devil Wears Prada musical in London — for which he wrote the score — and explained why he wasn’t able to attend many of the previews. “As you know, I have lost my eyesight, so it’s hard to see it” he told the crowd. “But I love to hear it and, boy, it sounded good tonight.”
How Elton John lost his eyesight
On Sept. 3, the star revealed that he was “quietly recuperating from a severe eye infection,” which he’d developed over the summer. In an Instagram post, he explained the infection left him with “only limited vision in one eye.” He didn’t specify his diagnosis, but called his healing “an extremely slow process” that “will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye.”
Last week, the “Rocket Man” singer told Good Morning America that he lost eyesight in his right eye in July after developing the infection in the South of France. “It’s been four months now since I haven’t been able to see, and my left eye is not the greatest,” he said.
He added that while he has hope, he’s “kind of stuck” professionally because he can’t really go into a studio to record music, “because I can’t see a lyric for a start.”
How old is Elton John?
The 77-year-old has previously opened up about his health problems through the years. In October, while delivering a speech during the New York Film Festival premiere of his upcoming documentary Elton John: Never Too Late, the singer joked about his many operations: “To be honest with you, there’s not much of me left,” he said. “I don’t have tonsils, adenoids, or an appendix. I don’t have a prostate.”
“I don’t have a right hip or a left knee or a right knee. In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip. But I’m still here,” he added before thanking his supporters, his husband David, and his sons “for making me the happiest man in the world.”
John retired from touring in July 2023, explaining, “I’ve done all there is to do, to play. I’ve succeeded. I’ve been there and I’ve done it,” before adding that he still wants to have music in his life.
How to watch the Elton John documentary
A new documentary about the singer-songwriter, Elton John: Never Too Late, will be available to stream on Disney+ beginning Dec. 13. The comprehensive film will take a look back at John’s 50-year career in the lead-up to his final concert in North America at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium.
