Sir Elton John has revealed the extent to which his vision has been affected after suffering a severe eye infection last year.

The legendary British musician, 78, revealed in an Instagram post in September that he had lost vision in his right eye because of an infection contracted in the south of France and only had limited vision in his left eye.

In a new interview with The Times, Sir Elton was asked if he could see the journalist interviewing him.

“I can see you, but I can’t see TV, I can’t read,” he replied.

“I can’t see my boys playing rugby and soccer,” he added, referring to his sons Zachary, 14, and Elijah, 12, whom he shares with husband David Furnish.

“And it has been a very stressful time because I’m used to soaking it all up. It’s distressing. You get emotional, but you have to get used to it because I’m lucky to have the life I have. I still have my wonderful family, and I can still see something out of here,” he said, pointing to his left eye. “So you say to yourself, just get on with it.”

In December, John admitted that he had been unable to watch his new musical, The Devil Wears Prada, due to his sight issues.

“I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, I have lost my eyesight. So it’s hard for me to see it. But I love to hear it and boy it sounded good tonight,” he said while onstage at a gala performance of the show staged to raise funds for the Elton John Aids Foundation.

Sir Elton has just released a new collaborative album with Brandi Carlile.

“The album’s direct confrontation with ageing and death serves to intensify these artists’ joyful, companionable celebration of life,” The Independent’s album critic Helen Brown wrote in her four-star review of Who Believes in Angels? “Outsized, old-school, dad-rockin’ fun.”

The duo are set to perform during this weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live, with Jack Black hosting.

In a recent interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, John explained that Carlile had saved him from falling into a creative funk when they first began working on the album together.

“If I had just made another Elton John record, I would’ve killed myself,” he said. “I needed her, I needed her talent, her energy, her humour, and her brilliant lyrics. I’ve got two of the greatest lyric writers in the world. Bernie Taupin and Brandi Carlile. The lyrics in front of me.

“If you can’t write great songs for those then… That’s my great talent, to be able to interpret those beautiful lyrics quickly. When we got going, it was like, whoosh, like an express train.”