Elton John has spoken of his distress at losing his eyesight and how he can no longer watch his young sons playing.
John revealed in a social media post last year that a “severe eye infection” had left him “with only limited vision in one eye”.
In an interview with the Times, the singer and songwriter, who has two children, Zachary, 14, and Elijah, 12, with his husband, the filmmaker David Furnish, said he “can’t see the telly” and he had not “been able to see anything since last July”.
He added: “I can’t read. I can’t see my boys playing rugby and soccer, and it has been a very stressful time because I’m used to soaking it all up. It’s distressing.
“You get emotional, but you have to get used to it because I’m lucky to have the life I have. I still have my wonderful family, and I can still see something out of here,” he said, pointing to his left eye.
He added: “You say to yourself, just get on with it.”
John has previously said his eye issues have affected his ability to record music and have left him feeling “stuck”.
However, he recently recorded Who Believes In Angels?, a collaboration with the US singer Brandi Carlile, which involved working with the producer Andrew Watt and his long-term songwriting partner Bernie Taupin.
Last month, and before the album’s release on Friday, John and Carlile hosted an evening of performance and storytelling at the London Palladium.
His headline set at Glastonbury in 2023 had previously been his last UK performance, as part of his 330-date Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which ended with an emotionally charged show in Stockholm, Sweden.
John reflected on how he used to do “120 shows a year” but said having children had made him entirely shift his perspective.
“I always said I wanted to die on stage,” he said. “Now I want my gravestone to read: ‘He was a great dad.’ My career has been wonderful, but the kids are what matters.”
Reflecting on his career he said he was “riddled with music” and it was the “greatest gift” he had ever been given. “Here I am at 78, feeling better than I have ever been,” he said.
Gesturing to his eyes, he added: “This is a bastard, but we’ll get over it. There is a lot more to do.”
