Elton John says he's "lost his eyesight"

John couldn't see the opening performance of the The Devil Wears Prada musical he wrote the score for, but he says it sounded great.

By Emma Keates | December 2, 2024 | 10:29am

Screenshot: Elton John/YouTube

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Elton John is still struggling with his eyesight after an infection he contracted earlier this year. The legendary singer-songwriter recently wrote the music for a new stage show based on The Devil Wears Prada, but said couldn’t actually see what was happening during its opening performance. “I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, I have lost my eyesight,” John told the London audience on Sunday, per AP. “So it’s hard for me to see it, but I love to hear it and, boy, it sounded good tonight.”

In September, John disclosed on social media that he had contracted the “severe eye infection” over the summer, which left him with “only limited vision in one eye.” His post continued, “I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye… 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.” Fellow artists like Chappell Roan and Jewel supported John in the comments.

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Unfortunately for the artist (and the world), the EGOT-winner‘s vision problems impact more than his ability to see a play. In a recent interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts (via Stereogum), John said that he hasn’t been able to see out of his right eye (the eye that was impacted by the infection) in “four months” and his “left eye’s not the greatest either.”

“There’s hope and encouragement, and it will be okay, but I’m kind of stuck at the moment,” he continued. “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. We’re taking initiative to try and get it better, but at the moment, that’s really what we’re concentrating on. It’s never fortunate for anything like this to happen, and it kind of floored me. I can’t see anything. I can’t read anything. I can’t watch anything.”

In January of this year, the Who’s Pete Townshend let it slip that John had apparently recorded an entire album with fellow singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, that John said was “one of the best things they’ve ever done.” That album has not yet seen the light of day, and it’s unclear whether John’s condition will affect its release. Hopefully we’ll get to hear it one day. In the meantime, you can listen to the two artists’ duet, “Never Too Late,” from John’s documentary, Elton John: Never Too Late, below: