Elton John‘s grim health confession

“Not much left”: The iconic singer made a blunt admission about his health battles during a screening of his new documentary.

Elton John is still standing.

The 77-year-old singer openly joked about his many health issues in a speech at the premiere of his new documentary,Elton John: Never Too Late, at the New York Film Festival on Tuesday.

“To be honest with you, there’s not much of me left,” John told the audience after a screening of the documentary, directed by his husband, David Furnish, and R.J. Cutler.

“I don’t have tonsils, adenoids or an appendix,” he went on, reported US magazine People. “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 continued. “And I can’t thank you [enough], you’re the people that made me.”

The singer with his husband, David Furnish. Picture: Victor Boyko/Getty Images

John has had many health woes over the years. Last month, he revealed he was recovering from a “severe eye infection” that affected his vision, after undergoing knee and hip replacement surgeries, reports the New York Post.

The Tiny Dancer singer also got a pacemaker fitted for an irregular heartbeat in the 1990s, was hospitalised for influenza and a bacterial infection in 2009, had an abscess that was discovered on his appendix in 2013, and suffered “gastric flu” in 2016.

Plus, John has dealt with hearing loss caused by years of touring.

In 2021, friends of John’s told The Post they were worried about the singer before the next stretch of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour that he finally wrapped last year.

“He is not Superman,” one musician who has known John for decades told The Post at the time.

“He should be at home with his kids and his husband, not stuck on the road. I worry that he won’t finish this tour.”

He performed on stage during the screening of his documentary in NYC on Tuesday. Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

At the premiere of his new documentary, John mentioned that he’s done with touring after his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour finished in 2023 after five years and more than 300 shows worldwide.

“As you know, I decided to stop touring because I’m 77 years of age,” he said.

“I’ve done all there is to do, to play. I’ve succeeded. I’ve been there and I’ve done it.”

The EGOT winner also gave a special shout-out to Mr Furnish, 61, and their sons Zachary, 13 and Elijah, 11, thanking them for “making me the happiest man in the world.”

“The most important thing in my life are David, Zachary and Elijah, and my family and my friends,” he added. “I found utopia and I’m so thrilled.”

Elton John: Never Too Late had its world premiere last month at the Toronto Film Festival and will begin streaming on Disney+ in the US on December 13.

The documentary explores John’s 50-year career leading up to his final North American show at Dodger Stadium in 2022.

The official logline for the documentary describes it as an “intimate and emotionally-charged story” that is “packed with all of his greatest hits, as well as lesser-known gems from the ’70s and unseen footage from Elton’s personal archives.”

“With exclusive access to Elton onstage, behind the scenes and in the recording studio, this documentary tells Elton John’s story as it’s never been told before,” the logline adds.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Elton John‘s grim health confession