Recently, I’d been trying to understand why the news that Elton John had lost his eyesight — at least temporarily — due to an infection felt like a major blow to me. I’ve always valued and respected John as a gay pioneer, but have never been a major fan of his music. To me, his particular brand is more akin to elementary school sing-a-long songs than the types of classic rock I tend to gravitate toward. And yet, I couldn’t shake how sad I was about the prospect that John’s eyesight could be gone for good. It made me recall an old joke from “The King of Queens,” where Leah Remini’s character, Carrie, protests a laser eye surgery pamphlet that boasts about how saxophonist Kenny G got LASIK to save his vision. “He’s a musician,” Carrie says. “Aren’t a lot of them blind?”
True, a great number of musicians have achieved success with limited or no vision, and a preternatural pianist like John would be no different should he continue to compose. Perhaps, though, it was the knowledge that someone whose eyes have seen so much of the world’s expanse wouldn’t be able to create such undeniable music by drawing from the sights all around him. It wasn’t until watching the new R.J. Cutler documentary “Elton John: Never Too Late” that I understood exactly why this news was so affecting: Elton John is a musical powerhouse not just because of his ability to compose, but because of his capacity to feel.
