Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has told Howard Stern that he suffers from severe hearing loss after years performing on stage.
Mr. Grohl, 53, described himself as “f——’ deaf” and that he has needed to read lips for the last 20 years. He said he deals with tinnitus — a ringing in the ear that can worsen over time — in his left ear.
“I haven’t had them tested in a long time — I mean, I know what they’re gonna say: ’You have hearing damage from tinnitus in your left ear, more so than your right ear,’” he said of hearing examiners.
Mr. Grohl added that the masking required by the pandemic has made living with his poor hearing even more difficult.
“If you were sitting next to me right here at dinner, I wouldn’t understand a word you were saying to me, the whole time,” he said during Mr. Stern’s podcast last week. “There’s no way. In a crowded restaurant, that’s worse. That’s the worst thing about this pandemic, people wearing masks. I’ve been reading lips for like, 20 years, so when someone comes up to me and they’re like, I’m like, ’I’m a rock musician. I’m deaf, I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
Despite his difficulties in conversation, Mr. Grohl said his ear for music is as good as ever.
“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 hear the minutiae of everything that we have done to that song, I really can,” he said.
• Peter Santo can be reached at psanto@washingtontimes.com.
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