Sir Elton John has revealed he’s endured a ‘challenging’ 15 months since losing sight in his right eye.
The 78-year-old star contracted an eye infection while in France in the summer of 2024, which left him blind in his right eye – a situation he’s described as ‘devastating’.
However, Sir Elton is determined to remain optimistic about his long-term prospects.
‘It’s been devastating. Because I lost my right eye and my left eye’s not so good, the last 15 months have been challenging for me because I haven’t been able to see anything, watch anything, read anything,’ the music icon told Variety.
But he added: ‘I’ve had the most incredible life, and there is hope. I’ve just gotta be patient that someday science will help me with this one. Once they help me with this one, I’ll be fine.
‘It’s exactly like the AIDS situation. You mustn’t give up hope, you must be stoic, you must be strong and you must always try and batter the door down to try and improve things.’
David Furnish, Elton’s husband, has also retained an optimistic outlook and is hopeful that a scientific breakthrough could prove crucial for the restoration of the chart-topping star’s sight.
He revealed that ‘there’s been some improvements in his left eye’ with treatments they’ve pursued as they continue to explore options but ‘because there’s damage to the retina in his right eye, retinas don’t heal naturally, so it’s an area of emerging science’.
Sir Elton also shared how his celebrity pals have kept his spirits lifted – including Sir Paul McCartney, who FaceTimes him – alongside his ‘wonderful family’.
‘The love I’ve received from him and from Pete Townshend and Mick Jagger and people like that have been amazing. Or you get an email from Keith Richards saying, “Hello, darling, how you doing? You know we love you,” and that’s it, but it just makes my day.’
He also pointed out that he’s ‘still been able to play, I’m still singing’, including a gig at the Singapore Grand Prix in October – his biggest show since retiring from touring in 2023.
Earlier this month he made a rarer appearance on stage to pay tribute to the late great Beach Boys star Brian Wilson at the Los Angeles’ Peacock Theatre for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
As part of an on-stage tribute to Wilson, who died in June aged 82, Sir Elton shared stories and sang the Beach Boys’ major hit God Only Knows, describing him as ‘my idol’.
‘He was the one who influenced me more than anybody else when it came to writing songs on the piano. It was an evening we would never forget,’ he said of their first encounter, adding: ‘Meeting someone who was a true genius doesn’t happen very often.’
Sir Elton also previously insisted that he feels ‘lucky’, despite his health troubles.
He told The Guardian in February: ‘I’m an optimist permanently.
‘I’ve got bad eyesight at the moment. There have been days where I’ve been miserable, but then I think about how lucky I am.’
And he’s keeping busy, announcing plans on Tuesday night to play Rock in Rio next September.
‘I didn’t come to Rio on the Farewell Yellow Brick Tour and I felt that I’d let a lot of my Brazilian fans down, so I want to make up for it,’ the I’m Still Standing singer explained in an announcement video on his Instagram Stories.
‘Come down in September and I’ll give you a fantastic show – and I’m really, really looking forward to it!’
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