Elton John has been candid about his health woes over the years (Image: Getty)
Sir bravely discussed his own mortality on – and .
The music legend was talking about a line from a song given to him by his lyricist Bernie Taupin, when he said: “And then I get to the chorus, and I find it’s about my death, my demise.
“And as a 76-year-old man, which I was at that time, and having children and having a husband, mortality, and you think about, ‘How long have I got? How long? I hope I’ve got much longer than maybe I’ve got [left].’
“And so by the time I got to the chorus and suddenly realised that I started singing it (and) I lost it for 45 minutes. It was a very, very heavy moment for me. After 45 minutes of being consoled, I was okay, but I recorded the next day…when you’re singing about being washed out to sea and the end of your life, it took me by surprise.”
His admission about potentially not having long left came just weeks after revealing he could not see on stage.
Elton John told the audience he was struggling with his sight while being supported by his husband (Image: Getty)
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Elton, now 77, was at the West End production of The Devil Wears Prada musical (which he wrote) when he said he “lost his eyesight and can’t see the stage”.
He added: “As some of you may know I have had issues and now I have lost my sight. I haven’t been able to see the performance but I have enjoyed it. To my husband who’s been my rock because I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews… it’s hard for me to see it but I love to hear it and it sounded good tonight OK. Thank you for coming!”
He was supported on stage by his husband, David Furnish, and last October he gave further insight about his health struggles.
Sharing an update on social media, the dad-of-two said: “To be honest with you, there’s not much of me left. I don’t have tonsils, adenoids or an appendix. 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. But I’m still here.”
Elton John (right) alongside his husband David Furnish (left) in Paris (Image: Getty)
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Eyesight woes
The Rocket Man performer has been candid about his blindness battle since getting an infection on holiday in the South of France.
Writing to his almost 5 million followers last September, he said: “Over the summer, I’ve been dealing with a severe eye infection that has unfortunately left me with only limited vision in one eye. I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye.
“I am so grateful for the excellent team of doctors and nurses and my family, who have taken such good care of me over the last several weeks. I have been quietly spending the summer recuperating at home, and am feeling positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery thus far. With love and gratitude.”
Jools Holland replied telling him to “get well soon” while Hannah Waddingham said: “Sending gold, healing vibes Elton.”
The Sacrifice singer at the Golden Globe Awards (Image: Getty)
Diabetes
He was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2000 and changed his diet to control his blood sugar levels. And he acknowledged more recently that he had not had a sweet treat in a “long time”.
Opening up on Lady Ruth Roger’s Table 4 podcast, he said: “I can have an apple, I can eat a bit of melon. As long as you’re sensible about it, it doesn’t shoot your blood sugar up. But what I crave is chocolate and ice cream, I can’t have any ice cream.”
He added that if he had a death row meal, he would eat everything sweet that he can’t currently have, including ice cream, donuts, apple pie and rhubarb crumble.
Appendicitis
Fans of Elton might remember him cancelling his 2013 summer tour after getting appendicitis. At the time his rep wrote: “Elton is incredibly disappointed to postpone these tour dates. To know that he made such superhuman efforts and continued to perform to thousands through his illness only confirms his dedication to his European fans.
“He is eager to be back on top form and return to play the remaining shows starting in early September 2013.” Elton then had surgery to remove his appendix in July of that year.
The artist doing what he does best at the Lucca Summer Festival (Image: Getty)
Hip Surgery
A fall back in 2021 left Elton with “considerable pain and discomfort” in his hip before he cancelled some dates of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.
He again went under the knife but before he did he said that “despite intensive physio and specialist treatment, the pain has continued to get worse and is leading to increasing difficulties moving.”
Elton added: “I have been advised to have an operation as soon as possible to get me back to full fitness and make sure there are no long-term complications.”
As expected, the I’m Still Standing singer finally returned to see out his tour in 2023 after the -19 pandemic sparked further delays.
Elton John at the Breast Cancer Research Foudnation’s Virtual Hot Pink Evening (Image: Getty)
Prostate cancer
The beloved singer got prostate cancer in 2017 and chose surgery instead of chemotherapy to stop the disease “hanging over” his loved ones. But despite the surgery being a success, he developed an infection days later, leaving him “24 hours from death”.
Writing in his autobiography, Me, he said he developed a rare complication before spending 11 days in hospital “wondering if I was going to die”.
He added: “In the hospital, alone at the dead of night, I’d prayed: please don’t let me die, please let me see my kids again, please give me a little longer.”