Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins were on the Howard Stern show this week promoting their new horror movie, Studio 666, in theaters now. Reviews say it’s a ridiculous and fun B movie and that you can tell the band is having a good time. Dave admitted to Howard that he has severe hearing loss and tinnitus. He doesn’t want to use in-ear monitors to protect his hearing while he’s performing because it messes up his spatial understanding and changes his perspective of the audience. This is somewhat understandable, although it could end very badly for Dave. Have you seen Sound of Metal? Dave explained that he often can’t hear someone who is sitting right next to him if there’s background noise. He hasn’t seen a doctor about his hearing loss in quite a while and doesn’t wear hearing aids off stage. Dave admitted to Howard that he’s been reading lips for 20 years and that he can’t tell what people are saying when they’re wearing masks.
Dave Grohl… 53, described himself as “f—ing deaf” during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show last week, and explained that he’s relied on reading lips for the past 20 years.
“I haven’t had them tested in a long time — I mean, I know what they’re gonna say,” he said of getting his ears looked at by a doctor. “‘You have hearing damage tinnitus in your left ear, morseo than your right ear.’”
Grohl said he finds it extremely difficult to hear other people in public places, and has struggled during the pandemic, as people’s masks cover their mouths and he can no longer rely on lip-reading.
“If you were sitting next to me right here at dinner, I wouldn’t understand a f—ing word you were saying to me, the whole f—ing time,” he told Stern. “There’s no way. In a crowded restaurant, that’s worse. That’s the worst thing about this pandemic s—, it’s like, people wearing masks. I’ve been reading lips for like, 20 years, so when someone comes up to me and they’re like [garbled noise], I’m like, ‘I’m a rock musician. I’m f—ing deaf, I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
Despite Grohl’s conversational struggles, he did say he’s still able to hear “the slightest little things” when recording in the studio and mixing albums.
“My ears are still tuned in to certain frequencies, and if I hear something that’s slightly out of tune, or a cymbal that’s not bright enough or something like that, in the mix, I can f—ing hear the minutiae of everything that we have done to that song, I really can,” he said.
While many artists wear in-ear monitors while performing in order to give them a direct source of sound and to protect their ears, Grohl does not, as he finds it “removes [him] from the natural atmosphere sound.”
Why are men like this? I’m sorry, but it’s typically men who put off going to the doctor, even when they get better treatment on average than women. I don’t understand why he can’t get the best hearing aids available and just use them in his personal life. There’s no shame in having hearing aids. (Also hearing aids should be covered by Medicare! Medicare recipients should be able to get state of the art hearing aids, which can cost thousands of dollars. My mom’s hearing aids cost over $5,000.) Dave Grohl’s career and identity is wrapped up in having to hear, but in his personal life he can take the L and wear hearing aids. He doesn’t have to wear them in the studio.
This reminds me of Huey Lewis opening up about his hearing loss and the fact that he suffers from Meniere’s disease. Huey is 71 and has said that his mental health has been strained so much from it. He now wears hearing aids. The Foo Fighters are touring this entire year! There’s still time for Dave to protect his remaining hearing.
The comments to this YouTube video are filled with advice from musicians urging Dave to at least wear earplugs while he’s performing.
