Elton John tells West End crowd ‘I’ve lost my eyesight’ as he’s helped off stage by husband David Furnish
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: Elton John gave an update regarding his health as he addressed the crowd at London's West End at the Dominion Theatre during the opening-night premiere of ‘The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical’ on Sunday, December 1.
John has written the score for the musical, which is an adaptation of the film and book of the same name.
Sir Elton John told fans he had lost his eyesight and could not see the stage at a red carpet launch on Sunday night.
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) December 2, 2024
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Elton John says he has lost his eyesight
Taking the stage, Elton John shared, as per Daily Mail, “As some of you may know I have had issues and now I have lost my eyesight. I haven't been able to see the performance but I have enjoyed it.”
To get down the stage, he was helped by his husband David Furnish. John married Furnish in 2014 and they share two sons -Zachary, 13, and Elijah, 11.
About the Canadian filmmaker, John said, “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 boy it sounded good tonight OK," before noting, "Thank you for coming!”
Among those who attended the event was Anna Wintour, long rumoured to have been the inspiration behind Miranda Priestly, the strict editor in 'The Devil Wears Prada'.
Elton John feels ‘stuck’ due to eyesight problem
This came after Elton John, 77, recently spoke about his eyesight problem with ABC News while discussing his new documentary ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’.
He told the media house, “It's been a while since I've done anything. 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.”
“It's been four months now since I haven't been able to see. And my left eye is not the greatest. So there's hope and encouragement that it will be okay, but I'm kind of stuck at the moment,” John stated.
Elaborating further on his struggles and how he wants to tackle them, the acclaimed singer-songwriter added, “Because I can do something like this, but going into the studio and recording I don't know, because I can't see a lyric for a start.
“We're taking an 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. And I can’t see anything, I can’t read anything, can’t watch anything," he said.
Elton John expresses gratitude toward his doctors and nurses
Despite the challenges, ‘Rocket Man’ singer remains optimistic. “I'm so lucky, I'm the luckiest man in the world. I'm so proud of the documentary, I'm proud of my sons, I'm proud of my attitude towards myself and what's going on. I'm just very lucky and very grateful.”
John, who played his last shows in summer 2023 at Glastonbury, even took to Instagram in September to talk about his eye problem.
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He had mentioned at the time, “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.”
“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,” John added.
