Elton John has recently opened up about his health struggles after telling his heartbroken fans he ‘hasn’t got long left to live’.
The 77-year-old music icon appeared on the Graham Norton show where he confessed he had been pondering his death and how much time he has left with his husband and kids.
Speaking on the BBC show, Elton revealed he had been working on a new single with his music partner Brandi Carlile where he’d been put in a position to sing about his own demise.
He said: “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.
“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.”
The I’m Still Standing singer has battled various health issues over the years including prostate cancer and last year he lost his sight in one eye.
It’s not the first time Elton has discussed the decline in his health as last year he shocked his audience by revealing on stage that he had lost his eyesight and couldn’t see.
In a heartbreaking social media post in October 2024, he wrote: “To be honest with you, there’s not much of me left. 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.”
Here we take a closer look at all of Elton’s health problems all over the years including his most recent battle with his eyesight..
Blindness battle
Elton revealed he had been struggling with vision loss after suffering with an eye infection during a holiday in the South of France.
Taking to on Instagram in September, he shared: “Over the summer, I’ve been dealing with a severe eye infection that has unfortunately left me with only limited vision in one eye. I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye.”
Elton expressed his gratitude for the medical team and his family for their attentive care. He wrote: “I am so grateful for the excellent team of doctors and nurses and my family, who have taken such good care of me over the last several weeks. I have been quietly spending the summer recuperating at home, and am feeling positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery thus far. With love and gratitude.”
He later shared a candid update with his fans at a weekend theatre event, saying: “I’ve lost my eyesight and cannot see the stage.
“As some of you may know I have had issues and now I have lost my sight. I haven’t been able to see the performance but I have enjoyed it. To my husband who’s been my rock because I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews… it’s hard for me to see it but I love to hear it and it sounded good tonight OK. Thank you for coming!”
Appendicitis
Elton was forced to postpone dates on his summer tour due to appendicitis back in 2013. His representative stressed the singer’s commitment to fans as the cancellations were announced.
The statement read: “Elton is incredibly disappointed to postpone these tour dates. To know that he made such superhuman efforts and continued to perform to thousands through his illness only confirms his dedication to his European fans”.
On his road to recovery, the statement concluded: “He is eager to be back on top form and return to play the remaining shows starting in early September 2013.”
Elton went through surgery to have his appendix removed in July 2013. The Rocketman star has also been managing his diabetes along with his other health challenges.
Diabetes
Elton was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes back in the early 2000s. As a result he drastically changed his diet to manage his blood sugar levels, later confessing that it’s been a “long time” since he indulged in a sweet treat.
Speaking on Lady Ruth Rogers’ Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast, he said: “I can have an apple, I can eat a bit of melon. As long as you’re sensible about it, it doesn’t shoot your blood sugar up. But what I crave is chocolate and ice cream, I can’t have any ice cream.”
He continued: “If I had a death row meal, it wouldn’t contain anything except sweets, because I can’t eat them now. So, I’d have ice cream, donuts, apple pie, rhubarb crumble.”
Prostate cancer
Elton was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017 and selflessly chose surgery over chemotherapy as he didn’t want the disease “hanging over” his family.
However, after his cancer treatment, the singer developed an serious infection which brought him “24 hours from death”.
In his memoir, Me, Elton he detailed that the surgery in Los Angeles had been a “complete success”, but he noticed something was off 10 days later.
He recalled: “It turned out that I had a rare complication from the operation.” Sir Elton revealed how he had spent 11 days in a London hospital “wondering if I was going to die”.
Elton further shared: “In the hospital, alone at the dead of night, I’d prayed: please don’t let me die, please let me see my kids again, please give me a little longer.”
Hip surgery
That’s not the last of Elton’s struggles as he also had to delay his 2021 Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour dates to have surgery after suffering a fall that left him in “considerable pain and discomfort” with his hip.
He shared at the time: “Despite intensive physio and specialist treatment, the pain has continued to get worse and is leading to increasing difficulties moving.”
He also mentioned: “I have been advised to have an operation as soon as possible to get me back to full fitness and make sure there are no long-term complications.”
Elton was not able to make his grand return to performing until 2023 after his surgery and additional setbacks from the Covid-1i9 pandemic.