The music icon delivered a heartfelt speech as he took the stage at the N.Y.C. premiere of his upcoming documentary ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ on Tuesday, Oct. 1:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(765x309:767x311):format(webp)/elton-john-never-too-late-100224-1-7879e836cb4841e6b01d9c2e055f89d9.jpg)
Elton John is thankful for his family and fans after suffering several health issues through the years.
On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the singer-songwriter, 77, delivered an emotional speech as he attended the New York Film Festival premiere of Elton John: Never Too Late, accompanied by his husband David Furnish and R.J. Cutler, who co-directed the documentary.
While speaking after the documentary aired, John — who also serenaded the crowd with “Tiny Dancer” at the event — opened up about his health journey, sharing, “To be honest with you, there’s not much of me left. 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. I want to thank David and Zachary and Elijah for making me the happiest man in the world,” the music icon continued, referencing his partner and their two sons.
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John and Furnish — who entered a civil partnership in December 2005 and officially tied the knot nine years later once same-sex marriage became legal in the U.K. — welcomed their older son, Zachary, 13, in 2010 via surrogate. Their son Elijah, 11, then joined the family in 2013 via the same surrogate.
John said of his family at Tuesday’s event, “I found complete and utter happiness and bliss when I met David and when I had my children, our children. And it satisfied me so much. I’ve never felt happiness like I have now.”
“As you know, I decided to stop touring because I’m 77 years of age, I’ve done all there is to do, to play. I’ve succeeded. I’ve been there and I’ve done it,” John added about his decision to step back from touring after playing his final Farewell Yellow Brick Road date in Stockholm in July 2023.
“I’ve still got to make room because I’m still going to have music in my life. But the most important thing in my life are David, Zachary and Elijah, and my family and my friends. I found utopia and I’m so thrilled,” he insisted.
John has been open about both family life and his health problems through the years, revealing on Instagram on Sept. 3 that he had “limited vision” in one of his eyes following a severe eye infection.
In August 2023, John’s representative assured PEOPLE that the “Rocket Man” singer was in “good health” following “a slip” at his villa in Nice, France. A couple of years before that, the five-time Grammy winner pushed back the remainder of his 2021 tour dates to 2023 after he “fell awkwardly on a hard surface,” injuring his hip.
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On Tuesday, John thanked the combination of music and his fans for getting him “through the good times and bad times” during his decades-long career.
“Even when I was in my darkest times, I still played music, I still recorded music, so I have to say thank you to music for being the most incredible inspiration to me throughout my whole life,” John said.
The N.Y.C. event came after John’s documentary, which looks back on his incredible life, had its world premiere in September at the Toronto International Film Festival.