Elton John sent fans a winking clarification about his eyesight while appearing at the 2025 Golden Globes on Sunday.
As he took the stage alongside Brandi Carlile, John proved he hasn’t lost his sense of humor while cracking a joke about his recent vision issues.
“I don’t know if you know, but there’s been a lot of stories going around about my regressive eyesight. I just want to reassure everybody that it’s not as bad as it seems,” he quipped. “So I’m so pleased to be here with my co-host, Rihanna!”
He and Carlile then presented the award for Best Original Score to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for “Challengers.”
Watch Elton John and Brandi Carlile at the 2025 Golden Globes below.
John revealed in September that he had developed a “severe eye infection” over the summer that left him with limited vision in his right eye, but suggested he was on the mend.
“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 on social media at the time.
He gave a brief update while appearing on “Good Morning America” in late November, saying, “It’s been four months now since I haven’t been able to see. And my left eye’s not the greatest.”
Days after his “Good Morning America” appearance, the five-time Grammy winner turned up at the London premiere of the musical adaptation of “The Devil Wears Prada” in London, where he indicated he’d had difficulty viewing the stage production.
“I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, I have lost my eyesight,” John, who co-wrote the musical’s score with Tony Award winner Shaina Taub, said. “So it’s hard for me to see it, but I love to hear it, and, boy, it sounded good tonight.”
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It’s unclear if John’s eyesight is expected to return, but it hasn’t slowed him down onstage or in the studio.
Though he retired from touring following his 2023 Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, he appeared at Walt Disney World last month to perform his 1972 classic, “Tiny Dancer,” during the Florida resort’s Christmas celebrations.
He and Carlile are also heavily rumored to have teamed up for a new album, but the status of that project remains unknown.