Huey Lewis has opened up about suffering painfully sudden hearing loss that could mean he may never hear music again.
The 67-year-old hitmaker, who rose to fame with songs like The Power Of Love, has been touring with his band The News for 40 years, selling 15 million albums and missing just five gigs in his life.
But as they rounded up a show in Dallas earlier this year, he experienced a bizarre sensation: the bass sounded like a fighter jet, and everything turned into white noise.
After scores of tests, doctors determined Lewis had Meniere’s disease, a rare incurable inner ear condition that has no known treatment, though diet tweaks like cutting out caffeine could help.
Now, a month after cancelling the rest of their shows for 2018, Lewis has shared his painful ordeal for the first time, telling Today’s Jenna Bush Hager he still hasn’t come to grips with losing the thing he loves the most.
The lead singer of Huey Lewis and the News suddenly lost most of his hearing this year
The 67-year-old hitmaker has been touring with his band The News for 40 years, selling 15 million albums and missing just five gigs in his life
The band rose to fame with songs like The Power Of Love and I Want A New Drug
‘I haven’t come to grips with the fact that I may never sing again,’ Lewis told Bush Hager on Monday.
‘I’m still hoping I’m gonna get better. They say a positive attitude is important.’
He explained: ‘Even though I can hear you, we can talk, I can talk on the phone — I can’t sing. I can’t hear music. I can do everything but what I love to do the most, which is a drag.’
The disease is a disorder of the inner ear that a handful of other musicians including Ryan Adams and Kristin Chenoweth have also suffered from.
While working with doctors to understand and treat the hearing loss Lewis will be taking an indefinite break from the stage.
There is no cure for Meniere’s but it is commonly treated with diuretic pills and a low-salt diet to prevent additional fluid build-up in the ear.
‘It’s a syndrome based on symptoms, and it affects people differently. All they can come up with as treatment is diet. No caffeine, lower salt, and keep your fingers crossed,’ Lewis told Bush Hager
‘It can get better. It just hasn’t yet.’
The chronic condition is commonly associated with hearing loss and vertigo, which is a spinning sensation that comes in waves.
Other symptoms include loss of balance, tinnitis or ringing in the ear, headaches, nausea and what’s described as a feeling of fullness in the ear.
Symptoms have been known to come on in episodes lasting 20 minutes to four fours, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology (AAO).
Lewis said in the first two-and-a-half months since he has had symptoms, he’s been experiencing distortion with lower pitches in particular.
This is common in the early stages of Meniere’s and eventually progresses to affect all tones of pitch.
The causes of the condition are unclear but a popular theory is that it results from too much fluid accumulating in the ear.
Lewis made the announcement on his band’s Facebook page last month
As a result of his condition, Lewis’s band Huey Lewis and the News has canceled all future shows including a scheduled performance at the music festival Outside Lands
In 85 percent of cases it only presents in one ear.
Symptoms such as vertigo can be alleviated with medication.
Surgery to reduce pressure in the inner ear has been found to be effective in one-half to two-thirds of patients, but doctors only recommend this extreme measure to a small subset of patients with the most severe symptoms.
Some patients with hearing loss from the condition are fitted with hearing aids, which may be an option for Lewis going forward.
However, it appears that doctors have not yet made the diagnosis official.
The band was scheduled to play several shows later this year including a set at Outside Lands.
‘Needless to say, I feel horrible about this, and wish to sincerely apologize to all the fans who’ve already bought tickets and were planning to come see us,’ he wrote in the Facebook post.
The singer-songwriter who shot to fame in the 1980s is unsure of when he’ll be back on the stage but hopes that his career hasn’t reached its end.
‘I’m going to concentrate on getting better, and hope that one day soon I’ll be able to perform again,’ he wrote.
The condition does often get better.
Ryan Adams was forced to take a break from performing for two years beginning in 2009 as a result of the disease.
Kristin Chenoweth was diagnosed with the disease in 2007, and is now performing again, and rapper Foxy Brown got back into music after being diagnosed in 2005.