‘He’s battling on’: David Furnish gives Elton John health update

As Elton John and David Furnish prepare for their annual Oscars party, Furnish has given an update on the “Rocket Man” singer’s health challenges.

“He’s great. He’s battling on. He’s keeping busy and moving forward,” Furnish said, according to Variety. “He’s happy being at home as a family with our sons. That’s why he came off the road. We really love parenting, we love our family, and we love being together, and that’s everything for us.”

John disclosed in 2024 that he was losing his vision, Entertainment Weekly reported.

He told the audience at the premiere of his documentary “Elton John: Never Too Late,” “To be honest with you, there’s not much of me left,” People magazine reported in 2024.

“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. And I can’t thank you [enough], you’re the people that made me,” he said at the event.

As for his vision, he told “Good Morning America” that same year that he lost sight in his right eye and that his “left eye’s not the greatest.”

“I can’t see anything. I can’t read anything. I can’t watch anything,” he added.

He also said that he had pain following a fall in 2021, writing on social media that year, “Despite intensive physio and specialist treatment, the pain has continued to get worse and is leading to increasing difficulties moving.”

John and Furnish appeared together at Donatella Versace’she’s New Year’s Eve party along with their sons Zachary and Elijah, People magazine reported.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party will be held on Sunday during the Oscars. It is the 34th year for the event and will be co-hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, David Burtka, Variety reported.

The A-list guest list includes Versace, Keke Palmer, Adam Lambert, Sharon Stone and Quinta Brunson, among scores of others.

“I would hope that we could raise north of $9 million,” Furnish told Variety. “Last year was very challenging following the fires in Los Angeles. There were a lot of very necessary philanthropic asks for Southern California as a result of the fires. But our ticket sales are really strong this year. We’ve got a fantastic auction, and we’ve got Neil and David joining us as co-hosts. We’re asking people to be generous.”

0 of 61

©2026 Cox Media Group