Five Successful Musicians with Hearing Loss
Unsurprisingly, music induced hearing loss is four times more likely to occur in a musician than the rest of the population. High exposure to loud sounds can lead to a life of permanent hearing loss. Lucky for us consumers, many famous musicians have not let hearing loss prevent them for producing bangers.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers star Anthony Kiedis revealed his experience with hearing loss in his autobiography Scar Tissue following a tour with Nirvana. “We played a giant airplane hangar of a room, and once again Nirvana went out and destroyed with their set, and the kids went insane… That night was the beginning of my ongoing battle with tinnitus… By the end of that tour, I’d have permanent ear damage, which, unfortunately, is one of the hardest things to cure.” Poor Anthony, but who could resist going wild at a Nirvana/Red Hot Chilli Peppers show.
Next we have Grimes, who cancelled her entire European tour in 2012 due to a nasty case of tinnitus. Grimes reveals that she has never been conscious of
protecting her hearing, and likely suffered from significant hearing loss after going to shows when she was younger. She recalls one specific concert she attended by one of her favourite bands, Animal Collective, saying, “I suffered permanent hearing loss from that show! I was high on drugs and pressed my ears on the speakers and so the next day I couldn’t hear for nearly two days, and I get really sharp pain in my ears now.” Hopefully readers will learn a lesson from this and not put their head against a speaker emitting a dangerously high volume!
Ozzy Osbourne, a heavy metal legend, reality TV star, and Guinness World Record holder of the longest crowd scream (clocking in at one minutes and eight seconds) has unsurprisingly suffered from permanent hearing loss and tinnitus. Constant exposure to loud music night after night will likely have that effect on a person. Ozzy stated “I suffer from permanent tinnitus . . . which means I’ve got this constant ringing in my ears, which has also made me somewhat deaf (or ‘conveniently deaf,’ as Sharon calls it). It’s like this ‘whee!’ noise in my head all the time. Should have worn earplugs, I guess.” Controversially, Ozzy now actively promotes safe listening and has raised funds to fight hearing loss.
Tinnitus appears to be a very common affliction for musicians, affecting former Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am, who never gets to experience true silence. Like Grimes, Will.i.am’s hearing was also damaged at a young age, yet it took him some time to realise that the ringing in his ears wasn’t normal. He deals with it by constantly filling his ears will music and other noise to drown out the incessant ringing sounds.
Genesis drummer and vocalist, Phil Collins announced he was quitting music in 2011 for health reasons, including his hearing. After years of chronic noise exposure, Collin’s ears have finally failed him. Collins’ hearing ability decreased gradually throughout his music career, leading to his heartbreaking decision to stop performing and leave the music industry completely. Collins and Paul McCartney are the only two artists who have sold over 100 million records worldwide both as solo artists and as principal members of a band. The music industry lost a great musician to a preventable condition.
