Ella Fitzgerald - The magnificent Ella Fitzgerald suffered from advanced diabetes for the last decade of her life. She was struck with many terrible side effects of the disease, including vision loss in the late stages.

© NL Beeld

Ella Fitzgerald -

Diabetic retinopathy occurs when high blood sugar levels damage the retina, causing swelling and bleeding inside the eyes. Luckily, this condition is usually diagnosed and treated much more effectively these days.

© NL Beeld

Judi Dench - Oscar-winning actress Dame Judi Dench was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in both eyes. The condition can cause severely blurred vision but doesn't cause blindness. But it can still seriously impact a person's sight and independence.

© Getty Images

Judi Dench - Formidable as ever, Dench declared: "I’m not going to be beaten by my eyes.” She continues to work into her late eighties, and says she simply requests her scripts with larger text.

© Getty Images

Mila Kunis -

Mila Kunis revealed that she was blind in one eye for several years during her twenties. The 'Black Swan' (2010) star kept the problem a secret until 2011, when she finally had surgery and regained full vision.

© Getty Images

Mila Kunis -

Kunis had been suffering from a condition called iritis, which causes inflammation of the iris. The iritis caused a cataract that impaired her vision until she had it removed. It also slightly changed the color of the affected eye! Kunis now has very subtle heterochromia.

© Getty Images

Johnny Depp -

In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Johnny Depp shared that he has had extremely poor vision for most of his life.

© Getty Images

Johnny Depp - The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star explained that he's legally blind in one eye and short-sighted in the other. “I’ve never had proper vision,” he said. “Everything is just very, very blurry.”

© Getty Images

Missy Elliott -

Missy Elliott suffers from an autoimmune condition called Grave's disease, which affects the thyroid. The thyroid gland over-produces hormones, which can cause the eyes to become more prominent and bulge. This can lead to blurred vision.

© Getty Images 

Missy Elliott - Missy told People magazine that she's seen huge improvements in her condition thanks to medical treatments, regular eye exams, and a healthy lifestyle.

© Getty Images

Bono -

Bono's tinted sunglasses are part of his trademark look. However, his unique eyewear isn't just a fashion choice. In 2014, the U2 front man shared that he had been suffering from glaucoma for 20 years.

© Getty Images

Bono -

Glaucoma is an eye disease that damages the optic nerve and can lead to blindness. It's the leading cause of blindness in people over 60. However, Bono is proof that vision can be preserved with the proper treatment and regular eye checks.

© Getty Images

Fetty Wap - Rapper Fetty Wap has been plagued with rumors about his missing eye throughout his career. Fans have come up with many potential explanations, the most popular theory being that he was shot in the eye! He finally set the record straight in 2015.

© Getty Images

Fetty Wap -

He explained that he developed congenital glaucoma as a result of an accident when he was a child, and ended up having his left eye surgically removed. He used a prosthetic eye for a while, but eventually decided to own it and go all natural.

© Getty Images

Venus Williams - The famous tennis player Venus Williams suffers from a rare autoimmune disease called Sjögren's syndrome. The condition affects the body's moisture-producing glands, which can lead to painful dry eyes and blurred vision. Williams has to use eye drops frequently to avoid these side effects.

© Getty Images

Ray Charles -

Legendary musician Ray Charles was born with congenital glaucoma in 1930. Left untreated, the disease left him completely blind by the age of seven. However, Charles never saw his loss of sight as a drawback. He used Braille to learn the piano, and the rest is history!

© Getty Images 

Stevie Wonder -

Stevie Wonder is another famously blind musical legend. Wonder was born blind due to a rare condition called retinopathy of prematurity. This eye disease occurs in premature babies born earlier than 31 weeks.

© Getty Images

Stevie Wonder -

It causes abnormal blood vessels to develop at the back of the eye, resulting in blindness. Obviously this didn't hold him back! Wonder is still going strong as a music pioneer and performer in his seventies.

© Getty Images

Stephen Curry -

Professional basketball player Stephen Curry was diagnosed with keratoconus, a condition that causes the corneas to thin. It usually progresses through adolescence and adulthood, and can lead to blindness if left untreated.

© Getty Images

Stephen Curry -

Curry underwent a procedure called corneal crosslinking to strengthen his corneas, and with the help of special contact lenses, his vision has greatly improved. He says he still squints on the court, but it doesn't affect his game too much.

© Getty Images

Andrea Bocelli -

The famed Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli lost his sight at the age of 12. He was born with glaucoma, which already affected his vision, but he went blind after hitting his head in a soccer accident. Nonetheless, his natural flair for music continued and he became one of the best-selling artists of all time.

© Getty Images 

Larry King -

The late Larry King developed cataracts later in life. Cataracts cause the eye lens to become cloudy and blur the vision, but can be safely and effectively removed through surgery to restore normal vision.

© Getty Images

Ronald Reagan -

The former US President (and Hollywood actor) suffered from severe short-sightedness. He enlisted in the Army in 1942, but wasn't allowed to take part in combat due to his poor vision. “If we sent you overseas, you’d shoot a general,” one doctor told him. It was said he could only see one yard (91 cm) in front of him.

© Getty Images 

Stephen King - World-famous horror writer Stephen King suffers from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), similar to Judi Dench. The author has had poor eyesight throughout his life, but he is now almost legally blind.

© Getty Images

Georgia O’Keeffe -

American artist Georgia O’Keeffe also developed AMD later in life. She lost her central vision and only retained her peripheral vision, making it difficult to continue painting. She worked more with charcoal than oil paint as her vision deteriorated.

© Getty Images

Alice Walker -

The great American author Alice Walker, known for her novel 'The Color Purple,' lost sight in her right eye at the age of eight when her brother shot her with a BB gun. When she had surgery a few years later, the doctor told her she risked losing vision in both of her eyes. Walker said that she “dashed about the world madly…storing up images against the fading of the light.” Luckily, she didn't lose her sight entirely.

© Getty Images

Apl.de.ap -

Apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas was born with a disease called nystagmus. It causes rapid involuntary eye movements and seriously impacts his vision. He is legally blind in both eyes, but says “I’m comfortable not using my vision."

© Getty Images

Thom Yorke -

British musician and Radiohead front man Thom Yorke was born with some paralysis on the left side of his face, causing his eyelid to droop. He underwent five surgeries to fix this, but unfortunately the final surgery damaged his eye, leaving him with impaired vision.

© Getty Images

Slick Rick -

Rapper Slick Rick is known for wearing a range of audacious eye patches on stage. His right eye was blinded by broken glass when he was an infant.

© Getty Images

Elton John -

Elton John shared the sad news in September 2024 that he had suffered a serious eye infection that left him with only limited sight in one eye.

© Getty Images

Elton John -

Understandably, this has affected his ability to work, so fans were delighted to see him attend a gala performance of 'The Devil Wears Prada' musical on December 7, for which he wrote the music. While there, he spoke of his sadness at not being able to see the show, but praised the music and thanked his husband for being his "rock."

Sources: (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology) (American Academy of Ophthalmology) (Perkins School for the Blind) (Discovery Eye Foundation) (Ozy)

See also: Celebrities who survived gunshot incidents

© Getty Images