Elton John says he has lost his eyesight and struggles to see his new stage musical

By The Associated Press on December 2, 2024.

FILE - Elton John waves to the waiting media as he leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice in London, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

LONDON (AP) – Elton John says he struggled to watch his new musical because he has lost his eyesight after contracting an infection.

The singer-songwriter attended the opening night of “The Devil Wears Prada” in London on Sunday and told the audience that “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,” he said.

John, 77, disclosed in September that an infection had left him “with only limited vision in one eye.” He wrote on Instagram that “I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye.”

John wrote the score for “The Devil Wears Prada,” a stage musical based on the 2006 movie about a young journalist navigating the glamour and egos of a glossy fashion magazine.

The production 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, the rumored inspiration for the Priestly character.

Wintour described the musical as “entertaining.”