Elton John unable to watch own musical due to 'lost eyesight'

Elton John has revealed he was unable to watch his new musical The Devil Wears Prada as an eye infection contracted over the summer had severely affected his eyesight.

"I haven't been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, I have lost my eyesight," the 77-year-old singer told the audience last weekend at a London charity gala performance of the musical, for which he wrote the score.

"So it's hard for me to see it, but I love to hear it and, boy, it sounded good tonight," he said.

The Rocket Man star posted on Instagram in September that an infection had "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," he added.

He told ABC News in the US last month that the infection had left him without sight in his right eye and that "my left eye is not the greatest."

John wound down a glittering live career with a global farewell tour in 2022 and 2023, playing his final show in his native UK at the Glastonbury Festival and his last-ever gig in Sweden.

US singer Vanessa Williams plays feared fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly in the stage adaptation of the 2006 film.

"I said I wanted to be a part of it because I could create the role and that means that you're informing the script, the music, the choreography, all the action," she told the media last week.

Other stars in attendance included fashion heavyweights Anna Wintour and Donatella Versace. (AFP)