Huey Lewis has reflected on his life with severe hearing loss, asserting determination that he’s “not going to give up” hope of returning to performing and recording.
Lewis, who rose to fame as a member of Clover and the frontman of Huey Lewis and the News, has been absent from the stage since 2018, when he cancelled all tour dates due to his diagnosis with Meniere’s disease.
The disease, which affects the inner ear and prompts vertigo and other disorienting symptoms, saw Lewis experiencing hearing loss during rehearsals and prompted his retirement from live performances until an improvement was observed. “I haven’t come to grips with the fact that I may never sing again,” Lewis told Today in 2018.
In a new interview with People, Lewis spoke about his life with the disease, explaining that he has since been fitted with a cochlear implant that allows him to hear speech “much better.”
“I lost bilaterally, my hearing … the intense vertigo — knock on wood — I have kind of outgrown,” he explained. “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.”
“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,” he added.
Despite Lewis’ being unable to perform, his eponymous group did, however release a new album in 2020, with Weather consisting of seven tracks recorded shortly before his diagnosis. However, Lewis notes he’s hopeful yet realistic about his chances of experiencing performing and recording again, calling it “the best feeling in the world.”
“But I’m never going to get there,” he conceded. “I mean, I might get to where I can try to, and I’m not going to give up. I’m going to try. But geez, that kind of fun, that kind of great ride. I doubt I’m ever going to see that … feel that again.”
Despite his inability to perform or record as part of Huey Lewis and the News, the singer has remained active in the world of music. While the jukebox musical based on the band’s music, The Heart of Rock and Roll, has been staged in San Diego and on Broadway in recent years, Lewis was this week named in the ongoing search for the guitar Michael J. Fox played in Back to the Future.
