Elton John told fans “there’s not much of me left” following multiple surgeries due to health issues.
The singer was speaking yesterday (October 1) at the premiere of his upcoming career-spanning documentary Elton John: Never Too Late. “To be honest with you, there’s not much of me left,” he joked to the crowd. “I don’t have tonsils, adenoids or an appendix. I don’t have a prostate, I don’t have a right hip or a left knee or a right knee.
“In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip. But I’m still here.” John went on to credit his fans and his family for his ongoing career, calling them “the people that made me”. “I want to thank David, Zachary and Elijah for making me the happiest man in the world,” he said.
“I found complete and utter happiness and bliss when I met David, and when I had my children, our children. And it satisfied me so much. I’ve never felt happiness like I have now.”
It comes just weeks after revealed he had suffered from a “severe eye infection” that left him with “limited vision” in one of his eyes. “I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye,” he said in a statement on Instagram.
Elton John: Never Too Late follows the musician as he reflects on his life and 50-year career as he prepared for his final North American stadium show at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium in November 2022, which was also livestreamed on Disney+.
The film is due to premiere on Disney+ on December 13 worldwide, and will reportedly “pull back the curtain” on the singer’s life, featuring “never-before-seen concert footage of him over the past 50 years, as well as hand-written journals and present-day footage of him and his family.”
Speaking at the premiere, John also addressed his decision to step back from touring following his farewell dates last year. “As you know, I decided to stop touring because I’m 77 years of age, I’ve done all there is to do, to play. I’ve succeeded. I’ve been there and I’ve done it,” he said.
“I’ve still got to make room because I’m still going to have music in my life. But the most important thing in my life are David, Zachary and Elijah, and my family and my friends. I found utopia and I’m so thrilled.”
His Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour began in 2018 and finally wrapped in Stockholm in July last year, earning over $900million (£708million) in gross ticket sales. At the time of its conclusion, it was the highest grossing tour of all time, but has since been overtaken by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres Tour.
At John’s final date in Stockholm, he told the crowd: “Fifty years of pure joy playing music… how lucky am I? I wouldn’t be sitting here… it wasn’t for you. You bought the singles, the CDs, the albums, the cassettes… [and] more importantly, you bought the tickets to the shows. You know how much I love to play live. It’s been my lifeblood to play for you guys. You’ve been absolutely magnificent.”
Meanwhile, John is not done releasing new music just yet. In May, his friend and co-writer Bernie Taupin revealed that John’s 32nd studio album is “all done and recorded”.
John has also celebrated 34 years of sobriety in recent weeks, sharing a picture online of his Alcoholics Anonymous coin, and sharing that “my life has never been better”.