Elton John states that he has lost his eyesight

Pop star Elton John said on Sunday that he had trouble seeing his new musical, "The Devil Wears Prada," after suffering from an eye illness that caused him to lose his vision.

At the end of the first night of the musical, which was also a fundraising event for the Elton John AIDS foundation, at London's Dominion Theatre, John updated the audience on his health.

“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,” said John, who wrote the score for the show.

John said that the problem has been interfering with his ability to work in an interview with "Good Morning America" last week.

“I unfortunately lost my eyesight in my right eye in July because I had an infection in the south of France and it’s been four months now since I haven’t been able to see, and my left eye is not the greatest,” he said.

“So, there’s hope and encouragement that it will be OK, but… I’m kind of stuck at the moment, because I can do something like this (the interview), but going into the studio and recording, I don’t know, because I can’t see a lyric for a start.”

In September, the 77-year-old John made his first public appearance on his eyesight issue when he posted on his Instagram page that he had 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,” John wrote, before thanking the “excellent team of doctors and nurses and my family” for taking such good care of him.

“I have been quietly spending the summer recuperating at home,” he wrote, adding that he is “feeling positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery thus far.”

John created the score for the stage musical "The Devil Wears Prada," but he stopped touring in 2023. On December 13, the documentary "Elton John: Never Too Late" about him will be released in tandem to the concert.

The music icon also became an EGOT winner earlier this year when his program "Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium" won an Emmy for best variety special.