Sir Elton John has said limited vision caused by an infection has impacted his ability to record music and left him feeling “stuck”.
In September, the veteran singer, 77, revealed in an Instagram post that he was “healing” after the infection, adding: “It’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye.”
Asked about when his new album with Bernie Taupin, which he announced last year, will come out, Sir Elton told ABC News’ Good Morning America: “I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve done anything, and well, I just have to get off my backside.
“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.
“So there’s hope and encouragement that it will be OK, but it’s… I’m kind of stuck at the moment, because I can do something like this (an interview), but going into the studio and recording, I don’t know, because I can’t see a lyric for a start.
“We’re taking initiative to try and get it better, but at the moment that’s really what we’re concentrating on.
“It’s never fortunate for anything like this to happen, and it kind of floored me. And I can’t see anything, I can’t read anything, can’t watch anything.”
It comes after Sir Elton released a new song with US star Brandi Carlile called Never Too Late, which was inspired by his new Disney+ documentary of the same name.
His 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.
Sir Elton, 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.