Elton John Actions

Elton John opens up about the debilitating infection that has left him struggling with his sight.

“It’s been devastating,” the 78-year-old singer told Variety in a profile published Tuesday. “I lost my [vision in my] right eye and my left eye is not so good, the last 15 months have been a challenge for me because I have not been able to see anything, look at anything, read anything.”

Still, the musician acknowledged: “I have had the most incredible life and there is hope.”

“I just have to be patient so that one day science will help me with this. Once they help me with this, I will be fine,” he said, explaining that “it’s exactly like the AIDS situation.”

“You should not lose hope, you should be stoic, you should be strong and you should always try to knock down the door to try to make things better,” he said.

Kevin Kane via Getty Images

John said his illness “sometimes gets me down,” but “you just have to grin and bear it.”

“I have a wonderful family; I have two great children; I have him,” she said, pointing to her husband, David Furnish. He also shared that a lot of famous friends check up on him.

“Paul McCartney calls me on FaceTime to check on me. It’s really beautiful. The love I’ve received from him, from Pete Townshend, Mick Jagger and people like that has been incredible,” she said. “Or you get an email from Keith Richards saying, ‘Hi honey, how are you? You know we love you,’ and that’s it, but it makes my day.”

John first mentioned losing his sight last year, when he said a “serious eye infection” had left him with “only limited vision in one eye.”

A few months later, she was able to joke about her health at the 2025 Golden Globes when she presented an award with her friend and fellow musician Brandi Carlile.

“I don’t know if you know this, but there have been a lot of stories circulating about my regressive vision. I just want to assure everyone that it’s not as bad as it seems,” he said at the time. “I’m so happy to be here with my co-host, Rihanna!”

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