Dame Judi Dench
The impeccable Academy Award-winning actress, Dame Judi Dench, known widely for her role as M in the James Bond films, revealed that she has age-related macular degeneration.
Although her vision has limited her in some capacity, Dench has not allowed the disease to slow her down and continues to appear in films.
Find out more about Macular Degeneration
Stevie Wonder
We have all sung or danced along with Stevie Wonder who is one of the most famous musicians of our time. He born blind due to a condition called retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)– an eye disease that occurs in a small percentage of premature babies where abnormal blood vessels grow on the retina.
Despite the disease, Wonder has persevered in a big way. Now 71, the musician has garnered 25 Grammy Awards, as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and continues to make strides in his career. In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded him with the prestigious Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
Find out more about Retinopathy of Prematurity
Claude Monet
One of the most surprising is Claude Monet, one of the most famous and prestigious French artists who was legally blind in his right eye and only had 10% vision in his left.
Diagnosed with cataracts in 1912, he later described his inability to see the full colour spectrum: “Reds appeared muddy to me, pinks insipid, and the intermediate or lower tones escaped me.” When he became legally blind in 1922, he continued painting by memorizing the locations of different colours of paint on his palette.
Find out more about Cataracts
Sir James Galway OBE
Sir James Galway OBE (born 8 December 1939) who is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed “The Man with the Golden Flute”, established an international career as a solo flute player.
He had congenital Nystagmus which as you will read about in the book is an involuntary movement of the eyes which may limit vision. In 2005, he received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music at the Classic Brit Awards.
Find out more about Nystagmus
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli is an Italian operatic tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma at 5 months old, and became completely blind at age 12, following a soccer accident.
After performing evenings in piano bars and competing in local singing contests, Bocelli signed his first recording contract with the Sugar Music label. He rose to fame in 1994, winning the preliminary round of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing “Miserere”, with the highest marks ever recorded in the newcomer’s section.
Learn about Glaucoma
Ray Charles Robinson Sr.
Finally, Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. Although the young Ray Charles—born Ray Charles Robinson—began to lose his sight at the age of 5, not long after witnessing his brother’s drowning, his eventual blindness was medical, not traumatic.
At the age of 7, he became completely blind when his right eye was removed due to intense pain from Glaucoma.
These are just among a few people who have had fantastic careers whilst living with eye conditions.