Sir Elton John has spoken candidly about the significant impact a recent eye infection had on his sight, revealing thoughts of feeling “stuck” as he grappled with the loss of vision in one eye.
At 77, the music icon had to press pause on recording at the end of last year due to the infection, which was diagnosed earlier in 2024.
He shared in November: “It’s been a while since I’ve done anything, and well, I just have to get off my backside. I unfortunately lost my eyesight in my right eye in July because I had an infection in the south of France and it’s been four months now since I haven’t been able to see, and my left eye is not the greatest.”
Nonetheless, Sir Elton remained hopeful, saying: “There’s hope and encouragement that it will be okay, but it’s… I’m kind of stuck at the moment, because I can do something like this [interview], but going into the studio and recording, I don’t know, because I can’t see a lyric for a start.”
Elton further stunned his army of fans when he revealed he was unable to see a live stage show. As he welcomed attendees to the West End production of The Devil Wears Prada – starring Vanessa Williams – he admitted “lost his eyesight and can’t see the stage”.
The beloved performer took to Instagram in September to inform his followers he was on the mend with the infection that had caused the vision loss.
Dad of two Elton, who shares kids Zachary, 14, and Elijah, 12, with husband David Furnish, has had a tough few years with multiple health battles over the years. In 2017, the megastar was diagnosed with prostate cancer and chose to undergo surgery rather than chemotherapy. He suffered complications after the operation and spent 11 days in a London hospital but would go on to make a full recovery.
Speaking in his memoir, Me, he said the initial op in LA had been a success, but it was found he “had a rare complication from the operation.” He spent 11 days in a London hospital after contracting an infection, and spent it “lying awake at night, wondering if I was going to die”.
Elton also postponed the 2021 dates of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour for hip surgery after a fall and wouldn’t return to the stage until 2023. On Friday night, Elton opened up during his appearance on The Graham Norton Show, saying that he “lost it” and needed comforting for 45 minutes when a new song made him confront his own mortality.
The music icon was close to tears when he appeared with collaborator Brandi Carlile to promote their upcoming track ‘Who Believes In Angels?’, due out on April 4.
Elton recalled: “Bernie Taupin [Elton’s lyricist] gave me a lyric for a song called, ‘When This Whole World Is Done With Me’, and I’m writing the verse quite quickly, and I think this is a really lovely verse.”
He continued: “And then I get to the chorus, and I find that it’s about my death, my demise. And as a 76-year-old man, which I was at that time, and having children and having a husband, mortality, and you think about, ‘How long have I got? How long? I hope I’ve got, much longer than maybe I’ve got.’.
“And so by the time I got to the chorus and suddenly realised that I started singing it (and) I lost it for 45 minutes. It was a very, very heavy moment for me,” he admitted. He added: “After 45 minutes of being consoled, I was okay, but I recorded the next day…when you’re singing about being washed out to sea and the end of your life, it took me by surprise.”
“It’s a really lovely song. I did it all in one take the next day. I just came in and did its vocal and piano at the same time,” Elton added.
“And I put a brass band at the end of it, because I’ve always loved brass bands, colliery bands, because their music is rather sad – the sound of it. I always loved the Cup Final when they played ‘Abide With Me’ and I always used to cry no matter how old I was, because it was so beautiful.”
Elton’s show-stopping performance at Glastonbury in 2023 marked his last live gig in the UK as part of his colossal 330-date Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which he wrapped up with a heartfelt set in Stockholm, Sweden.