Elton John reveals he is unable to watch new musical after losing his eyesight

Sir Elton John says he has “lost his eyesight”, which has prevented him from watching his new musical.

Appearing at the gala opening of new musical The Devil Wears Prada, for which he has written the score, he told the audience, “I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, I have lost my eyesight.

“So it’s hard for me to see it, but I love to hear it and, boy, it sounded good tonight.”

The 77-year-old singer revealed in an Instagram post in September that his vision has been affected in his right eye after contracting an infection in the summer – saying that he is “healing but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye.”

In November, he told ABC News’s Good Morning America he had lost his sight in his right eye after developing the 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”, he said.

Sir Elton’s headline set at Glastonbury in 2023 marked his last UK performance as part of his 330-date marathon Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which he drew to a close with an emotionally charged show in Stockholm, Sweden.

The veteran musician, who was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour at a ceremony in November 2021, is known for hits including Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting, I’m Still Standing, and Your Song.

In 2019, he was played by Kingsman actor Taron Egerton in a film about his life called Rocketman.

‘The Devil Wears Prada’ at London’s Dominion Theatre stars Vanessa Williams as the fearsome editor Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep in the film.

Sunday’s gala, a fundraiser for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, was attended by celebrities and fashion-industry figures including designer Donatella Versace and former Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who is considered by many to be the inspiration for the Priestly character.