Huey Lewis has said that he hasn’t given up on the idea of making new music, despite suffering from a condition that has left him with hearing loss.
Lewis was diagnosed with Meniere’s disease back in 1996 but only went public with it in 2021. It’s a condition that affects the inner ear and the symptoms include vertigo, nausea and hearing loss, and as he revealed in a new interview with Peopleit’s the latter that the singer has found it particularly hard to deal with.
“And this is my cross to bear,” he said. “I have a cochlear implant in my head that now enables me to hear speech much better. I lost bilaterally, my hearing … the intense vertigo — knock on wood — I have kind of outgrown. I’m mildly dizzy all the time, and my hearing just went to zero. And now I have a cochlear implant, so I’m much better that way, but I can’t hear music.”
He continued: “The worst part is that means it’s bad enough not to be able to perform and sing and play, but it’s really bad not to even be able to enjoy music.”
Lewis hasn’t released an album since 2020’s Weather. He described performing and recording as “the best feeling in the world. But I’m never going to get there. I mean, I might get to where I can try to, and I’m not going to give up. I’m going to try.”
Since going public with his Meniere’s diagnosis, Lewis hasn’t been idle. Much of his attention over the last few years has been focused on his jukebox musical The Heart Of Rock N’ Roll.
After a run on Broadway last year, he still has plans for the production: “We’re trying to get it up and get it to London, and we’re going to tour America in 2027, so we have to put it together this next year. We put it up on Broadway for a few months – too short, unfortunately. But it’s really a great show and I’m very excited about it,”
At 74, he’s philosophical though, about where he is at in life. “The bottom line is I’m still a lucky guy and there are lots of people out there worse than I am. And it is very hard to remember that sometimes, but my kids help me do that.
“You have to rebalance and things, but it doesn’t mean that life is terrible… my life isn’t as good as it used to be, but it’s still a lot better than most.”
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