Elton John is coming to Brazil. The Rocket Man didn’t stop in the country during his massive Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, but he’s making up for his long, long time away by headlining Rock In Rio 2026. However, it’ll be one of his first big shows since he contracted a “severe eye infection” back in 2024 that left him “with only limited vision in one eye.” Although he’s hopeful he might regain some of his vision, he spoke in a new interview with Variety about the toll it’s taken on his mental heath.
“It’s tough to go and see a show, because I saw Chappell [Roan] out in the desert [at Coachella] and I saw Brandi [Carlile] at the Albert Hall, and they were both incredible shows,” John said. “But I can’t really see what’s going on.” He added that the work he’s done over the years with Elton John AIDS Foundation has helped him put his own health issues into perspective. He continued:
Because I lost my right eye and my left eye’s not so good, the last 15 months have been challenging for me because I haven’t been able to see anything, watch anything, read anything.
I’ve had the most incredible life, and there is hope… I’ve just gotta be patient that someday science will help me with this one. Once they help me with this one, I’ll be fine. It’s exactly like the AIDS situation. You mustn’t give up hope, you must be stoic, you must be strong and you must always try and batter the door down to try and improve things.
On the other hand, I’ve still been able to play. I’m still singing. We did the Singapore Grand Prix the other day with the band, which was wonderful. I mean, you just have to grin and bear it. It does get me down sometimes. But on the whole, I’ve got a wonderful family; I have two great kids; I have [my husband]. Paul McCartney FaceTimes me to see how I’m doing. It’s really beautiful. The love I’ve received from him and from Pete Townshend and Mick Jagger and people like that have been amazing. Or you get an email from Keith Richards saying, “Hello, darling, how you doing? You know we love you,” and that’s it, but it just makes my day.
Though John retired from touring, he said he’s been doing a few smaller private shows to help him practice with his limited eyesight. The full list of Rock In Rio 2026 headliners has yet to be released, but we do know the festival will also welcome Stray Kids as their first-ever K-pop headliners this year.
