Retired singer-songwriter Huey Lewis has revealed how hearing loss has transformed his life completely.
Speaking on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, he opened up about his struggles making music in recent years, and detailed how he has been "basically deaf" for nine years.
“So eight, eight and a half years, and my life has changed immeasurably,” Lewis said. "I can't hear music. Music is not part of my life anymore, which is a hard pill to swallow."
The former frontman of Huey Lewis and the News was forced to cancel a tour with the band in 2018 after his hearing collapsed. At this point, he'd been relying on his left ear for decades, having lost hearing in his right ear in the early '90s.
Lewis was then diagnosed with Ménière’s disease, which impacts the inner ear and can cause ringing, dizziness and a feeling of congestion in the ear. In recent years, he's used a cochlear implant on one side and a hearing aid on the other.
"Now I'm deaf basically without the technology involved," he explained.
Raised in Marin County, California, Lewis started his career in music with the '70s Bay Area band Clover, but didn't achieve serious commercial success until after the formation of Huey Lewis and the News in '79. The band had several hits in the 1980s, including US No.1 The Power of Love, famously featured in the film Back To The Future.
In February 2025, Lewis became the first artist to be inducted into the People's Music Hall of Fame, a testament to his impact on the world of music over the last few decades.
After that landmark moment, he insisted that he wouldn't give up on producing new music.
However, this revealing interview with Michael Rosenbaum underlines just how debilitating his ear disease has become in recent years.
“It just ends up being frustrating for me when I can’t enjoy it,” Lewis said. “I can’t feel the warmth.”
