Audience members watching the world premiere of Elton John’s new documentary Never Too Late were treated to a visual feast at the film’s Toronto International Film Festival debut — but the icon at the center of the movie told the crowd that, unfortunately, he couldn’t see much of their reaction due to an ongoing eye injury.
The legendary 77-year-old recording artist appeared after the film’s first public screening Friday night at TIFF, where he joined director RJ Cutler and co-director (and John’s husband) David Furnish to discuss the making of the documentary that chronicles the first five years of his career as well as preparation for his final concert in Los Angeles in November 2022.
“The love I have for this family, my family, my children, and my friends, has never been better,” an emotional John said. “I’m 77 years old, and I’m having the best time of my life, except for this f—ing eye. I wish I could see you, but I can’t.”
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Earlier this week, John released a statement indicating that he’d “been dealing with a severe eye infection” that left him “with only limited vision in one eye.” He assured fans that he was healing, but that it was “an extremely slow” process that won’t be over soon.
While he said he wasn’t able to fully see the audience’s reaction to the film at the TIFF screening, John still felt it. He said that the doc profoundly touched him, and that he was “shaking” backstage during the screening.
The film goes to some deep places for the singer-songwriter, including outlining a 1976 Rolling Stone interview in which he first publicly discussed his sexuality.
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Courtesy of TIFF
“That was a definitive time in my life because I was being honest,” John said, before crying as he turned to his husband, with whom he indicated in the documentary he was retiring from touring to spend more time.
John continued: “It was a wonderful time for me, because I got that kind of thing off my back. The whole point of this movie is the truth should always be told, and it took me so long to tell the truth and it made me so unhappy. It was so stupid, the amount of years I lost by not telling the truth and fooling myself. When I stopped fooling myself, obviously my life turned around.”
He continued, “The thing I love about this movie most is I have [my husband] and I have my two sons. I will hope to keep making music, but I want to be at home with them and see them and treasure them. It’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever had in my life.”
The musician rounded out an EGOT earlier this year when he scored an Emmy for his variety show Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium, featuring footage of his final show.
Elton John: Never Too Late premieres Dec. 13 on Disney+. Watch John get emotional discussing the film and his journey to sobriety in the video above.