Wed, Dec 04, 2024 | Jumada al-Aakhirah 2, 1446 | DXB ktweather icon0°C

Elton John reveals eyesight loss in emotional speech after battling infection

John said in a documentary that premiered in September that his health made him worry about the future

Published: Tue 3 Dec 2024, 11:49 AM

Updated: Tue 3 Dec 2024, 11:57 AM

  • By
  • Reuters

Top Stories

British singer-songwriter Elton John (Photo by AFP)

British singer-songwriter Elton John (Photo by AFP)

Music legend Elton John told a theatre audience in London on Sunday he had lost his sight after struggling to recover from an eye infection earlier in the year.

The 77-year-old star, known for hits such as Tiny Dancer and Your Song, was in London's West End for the opening of The Devil Wears Prada musical, for which he wrote the score.

In an emotional speech from the stage of the Dominion Theatre at the end of the show, he said the performance had sounded good, but he had not been able to watch it.

"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," John said. "I love to hear it," he added, to rapturous applause.

John, who has sold more than 300 million records over a six-decade career, said in a documentary that premiered in September that his health made him worry about the future.

"This is the latter time of my life. I don't know how much time I have left," he said in the documentary Elton John: Never Too Late.

He said that month in an Instagram post that he was feeling positive about how his eye was healing after an infection in July.

Two months later, he told ABC News he could not see out of his right eye and his left was "not the greatest", meaning he could no longer read or watch anything.

He said his condition was keeping him out of the studio where he had been working on a new album.

"It's been a while since I've done anything," he said. "There's hope and encouragement that it will be okay, but it's, I'm kind of stuck at the moment."

John, who shot to fame in the early 1970s, went on a farewell tour from 2018 to 2023.

ALSO READ:



Next Story