Sir Elton John has stunned fans by revealing he’s already completed a brand‑new album – and it only exists because his eye trouble forced him to rethink everything he knew about songwriting.
Eyesight Issues
The 79‑year‑old music legend opened up about the unexpected creative shift while accepting the prestigious Glenn Gould Prize at the Theatre at Great Canadian Casino Resort in Toronto.
John explained that his eyesight issues made his usual writing process impossible.
He told the audience, “I’ve had eye trouble recently and I always make records by looking at lyrics and writing to lyrics, and so I’m kind of f****d at the moment.”
For the first time in his five‑decade career, he had to abandon his lyric‑first approach.
Album Breakthrough
Instead of slowing him down, the challenge sparked a breakthrough.
He said, “What my eye has given me is a chance of, at 80 years of age, completely reversing how I write. I’m writing melodies first, and lyrics coming second. I’ve never done that. And I’ve just done it.”
That shift led to an entirely new album – one he says feels unlike anything in his catalogue.
He said, “I’ve just done an album, which is so different to anything I’ve ever done before, but it’s so happy.”
“I’m so thrilled with it because it’s given me another chance to make music.”
The revelation comes after John stepped away from touring in 2023, wrapping his massive Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour after more than 300 shows worldwide.
He also released Who Believes in Angels? with Brandi Carlile last year, signaling he wasn’t done creating. But fans didn’t expect a full solo album to emerge so soon.
Eye Infection
The 79-year-old star contracted an eye infection while in France in the summer of 2024, leaving him blind in his right eye. However, the Tiny Dancer hitmaker remains optimistic about his long-term prospects.
Speaking to Variety in November, he explained, “It’s been devastating. Because I lost my right eye and my left eye’s not so good, the last 15 months have been challenging for me because I haven’t been able to see anything, watch anything, read anything.”
“I’ve had the most incredible life, and there is hope. I’ve just gotta be patient that someday science will help me with this one. Once they help me with this one, I’ll be fine.”
“It’s exactly like the AIDS situation. You mustn’t give up hope, you must be stoic, you must be strong and you must always try and batter the door down to try and improve things.”
Optimistic Outlook
David Furnish, Elton’s husband, has also maintained an optimistic outlook. Furnish is hopeful that a scientific breakthrough could prove crucial for his other half.
He said, “We’ve been doing some treatments and there’s been some improvements in his left eye, which is really good, and we’re continuing to explore and getting a lot of outreach from a lot of doctors who want to help and support. Because there’s damage to the retina in his right eye, retinas don’t heal naturally, so it’s an area of emerging science.”
“But things are changing really quickly. What AI is doing for medicine and science alone is astonishing. And there’s all kinds of interesting new theories and breakthroughs, and they can process the data and do the trials a lot more quickly than they could before.”