Elton John Performs ‘Cold Heart’ With Dua Lipa Amid Health Challenges

Elton John may be done with touring, but he’s not done taking to the stage.

The legendary musician, 77, surprised fans on Thursday, October 17, at Dua Lipa’s concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall, where he joined her to perform their 2021 duet, “Cold Heart.” John sat in a chair for part of the performance but eventually stood up to sing alongside Lipa, 29, and her backup singers.

John rocked a burgundy suit and matching dress shirt, which he paired with a gold necklace, while Lipa wore a black dress with a fluffy tulle skirt. Channeling John’s over-the-top style, she completed the look with a tulle and feathered cape.

John celebrated the pair’s performance by sharing several clips from the show via his Instagram Story on Friday, October 18, showing him both sitting and standing during the song. “LOVE THIS!” he wrote alongside one fan’s video adding John into a picture they were drawing of Lipa’s concert.

Social media users freaked out over John’s surprise appearance, as Thursday’s concert was only the second time he and Lipa sang “Cold Heart” live together, per the BBC. “LEGENDS,” one fan wrote via X on Thursday, while another gushed, “Oh what an iconic duo 👑.”

The duet was one of Lipa’s four encore songs along with “Be The One,” “Don’t Start Now” and “Dance the Night,” the latter of which she sang live for the first time, per the BBC. Lipa’s Royal Albert Hall concert was being filmed for TV and featured many songs from her latest album, Radical Optimism, which dropped in May.

John’s appearance came shortly after he revealed last month that he was recovering from “a severe eye infection” that left him with “only limited vision in one eye.”

He explained in a September 3 Instagram statement: “I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye. I am so grateful for the excellent team of doctors and nurses and my family, who have taken such good care of me over the last several weeks. I have been quietly spending the summer recuperating at home, and am feeling positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery thus far.”

While attending the New York Film Festival premiere of his Elton John: Never Too Late documentary earlier this month, John told fans that “there’s not much of me left” after undergoing multiple surgeries over the years.

“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,” he told attendees, per People. “In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip.”

Despite his health ups and downs, John stated that he’s “still here,” adding, “And I can’t thank you [enough], you’re the people that made me.”

He recently made a bold fashion statement at the BFI London Film Festival on October 10 by wearing his old kneecap as a necklace on the red carpet. John paired the gold-trimmed accessory with a brown suit and tan striped dress shirt.