Elton John — he of the dazzling spectacles and dazzling shows — has been “quietly” spending his summer recovering from a “serious eye infection” that has affected his vision.
The “Crocodile Rock” and “Bennie and the Jets” singer shared the health update on Tuesday, explaining his subdued social media presence over the past few months.
“Over the summer, I have been dealing with a serious eye infection that has unfortunately left me with limited vision in one eye,” the EGOT award winner said in a statement on Instagram. “I am recovering, but it is an extremely slow process and it will be some time before I regain sight in the affected eye.”
The 77-year-old rocker said his doctors, nurses and family have been caring for him over the past few weeks and that he has been “spending the summer recovering quietly at home.”
“[I] “I feel positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery so far,” he added. John, whose real name was Reginald Kenneth Dwight, did not elaborate on the condition or what caused it.
Representatives for John did not immediately respond to The Times' requests for comment Wednesday.
The legendary singer-songwriter has been plagued by health issues over the past few years.
John, who retired from touring last year, was briefly hospitalized last summer after falling at his home on the French Riviera, where he had been spending the summer with his husband David Furnish and their children since finishing his record-breaking Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in July of that year.
Photos of the “Rocket Man” singer in a wheelchair also alarmed fans in 2022, but John later explained on Instagram that he was using the chair to rest his hip after a “highly successful show” in Bern and while being transported through Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany. In 2021, he underwent hip surgery after “falling awkwardly on a hard surface,” and his recovery postponed several of his tour dates.
The British superstar was also among the many musicians whose live performances were cut short in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2022, just after relaunching his farewell tour and despite being vaccinated and having received boosters, he had to cancel his shows in Dallas after experiencing “mild symptoms” when he contracted COVID-19.
