It’s always sad when an entertainer grows older and we have to watch as someone we love is struggling. Even though we may not ever have met them in person, it is still something that affects us on a personal level.
One entertainer who has had his share of medical and mental health problems over the years is Elton John. The musician has entertained us for decades, but that doesn’t mean that he has always done so without stress.
In the upcoming television documentary, ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ he speaks about his personal life. He says that he had struggles and worries about getting older and that his children had similar worries.
Elton John is a married man and father. He has two sons with his spouse, David Furnish. He said that his children, Zachary and Elijah are concerned about his advancing age.
He said: “They worry as they know how old I am. Not so much David but me. They love their Daddy so they want me to be around forever. I don’t know how much time I have left.”
Although it sounded negative, he did say that he wanted to be around forever and said that he wanted to be there for important events in their lives. He said: “I want to see them have children and get married, but I don’t think I am going to be around for that. Who knows? You never know.”
At the premiere of his documentary in October 2024, he discussed his health struggles in a humorous way. Talking about past surgeries, he said: “I don’t have tonsils, adenoids, or an appendix. I don’t have a prostate. I don’t have a right hip, a left knee or a right knee.
“In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip. But I’m still here.”
He said this because he had a hip replacement after falling on a hard surface in 2021. Later, he had a severe eye infection that cost him his eyesight. Hopefully, that is a temporary situation.
On Instagram, he said that he was ‘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.’
In 1975, he overdosed on Valium and fell into a swimming pool. Since then, he has had his struggles with both physical and mental health problems.
As you can see in his movie, Rocketman, he also attempted suicide after a two-week binge. He then went for treatment for bulimia and entered rehab in 1990.
In 2008, he had a ‘serious E. coli infection’ and canceled some shows in the UK and the United States. Four years later, he was in the hospital with a respiratory infection.
Health issues continued until 2013, when he postponed a tour because he had to have his appendix removed. He then received a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2017 when he was organizing his farewell tour.
Despite that diagnosis, he was back on stage 10 days later. He wanted to have his prostate removed rather than going through chemotherapy.
Additional shows were canceled in 2018 because of an ear infection and a hip injury caused him to postpone some of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour dates from 2021 through 2023.
As you can tell, he has had his share of problems in life but he considers himself to be a survivor. He said: “I’ve survived a lot of things. Life is full of pitfalls, even when you’re sober. I can deal with them now because I don’t have to run away and hide.”
He also said that he knew what he wanted printed on his gravestone. It was five simple words, “he was a great dad”
