Elton John Describes How Losing Eyesight Has Affected His Songwriting: I’m Kind of Stuck in the Moment’

Elton John has been plagued by a series of health issues over the past few years. But in an interview with Good Morning America on Monday (Nov. 25), the indefatigable Rock and Roll Hall of Fame icon said an eye infection he suffered this summer has turned into the loss of vision in his right eye, which is impacting his ability to create.

John, 77, told Robin Roberts that “it’s been a while” since he’s worked on new music, something he’s been unable to figure out because of his poor eyesight. “I unfortunately lost my eye sight in my right eye in July because I had an infection in the South of France,” said John in the interview during which his eyes were somewhat obscured by a pair of green framed eyeglasses with a yellow tint to on the lenses. “It’s been four months now since I haven’t been able to see. And my left eye is not the greatest.”

Roberts flew to England to talk to John about his new doc, Never Too Late, noting that at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year he teased a new album, a project whose future is now up in the air due to his poor vision. “There’s hope and encouragement that it will be okay,” John said. “But I’m kind of stuck in the moment, 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 start.”

John said he’s working on getting his eyesight back, but the infection has “floored” him for the moment because he can’t see, or watch anything. When Roberts suggested that, after all his health struggles, John is “still standing” — as he sang on his 1983 hit “I’m Still Standing” — the singer had to agree. “I’m so lucky. I’m the luckiest man in the world,” he said.

John has released 32 studio albums during his half century-long career, with the most recent being 2021’s Regimental Sgt. Zippo, a Record Store Day reissue of an shelved album from the late 1960s.

John has been open in the past about his various health struggles, including hearing loss, knee and hip replacement surgery, as well as prostate cancer and a the implantation of a pacemaker to treat an irregular heartbeat. He recently told Rolling Stone: “I don’t have tonsils, adenoids or an appendix,” in reeling off his many surgeries. “I don’t have a prostate. I don’t have a right hip or a left knee or a right knee. In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip.”

Never Too Late, directed by R.J. Cutler and John’s husband, David Furnish, will begin streaming on Disney+ on Dec. 13.

Watch the full interview here.