Elton John. Bruce Glikas/Getty Images
Elton John lost sight in his right eye after suffering from an infection earlier this year.
“I had an infection in the South of France,” John, 77, told Robin Roberts during a Monday, November 25, interview on Good Morning America. “It’s been four months now since I haven’t been able to see, and my left eye’s not the greatest.”
John said there’s “hope and encouragement” that he’ll be OK eventually.
“I’m, kind of, stuck in the moment,” he added, noting that she’s not sure if “going in the studio and recording” music is possible right now.
“I can’t see a lyric, for start. We’re taking an initiative to try and get it better, but at the moment, that’s really what we’re concentrating on,” John explained. “It’s never fortunate for anything like this to happen. It kinda floored me, and I can’t see anything. I can’t read anything, I can’t watch anything.”
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Despite his ongoing health struggles, John was still smiling during the interview. Roberts, 64, even brought up the lyrics to John’s 1983 song “I’m Still Standing.”
“I’m so lucky. I’m the luckiest man in the world,” he said. “I’m proud of my atтιтude toward myself and what’s going on. I’m just very lucky and I’m very grateful.”
“It kinda floored me, and I can’t see anything. I can’t read anything, I can’t watch anything.”@eltonofficial reveals to @robinroberts that he has lost vision in his right eye in July after an infection. pic.twitter.com/KxFv4KbLyi
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 25, 2024
John previously spoke about losing vision in his eye, downplaying the effects of his infection, in an Instagram statement from September.
“Over the summer, I’ve been dealing with a severe eye infection that has unfortunately left me with only limited vision in one eye,” the singer wrote at the time. “I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye.”
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John has suffered a series of health issues over the past few years. He did not attend the 2023 Emmys this past January because he was getting knee surgery. John won Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for his Disney+ concert special тιтled Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium. That win gave the singer an EGOT, meaning he’s won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award throughout his career.
Ben Winston, the concert special’s producer, spoke on John’s behalf at the awards ceremony.
“Thank you so much, I am not Elton John. Sadly, he had a knee [operation]. He’s absolutely fine. He wanted to send his love and thanks to the television academy for this wonderful award,” Winston said at the time. “We knew this show was going to be historic because it was going to be Elton’s last ever show in North America on tour. We didn’t know it was going to be historic because it was going to win a man who has created the soundtrack to all of our lives … we didn’t know it was going to win him an EGOT.”
