Huey Lewis shared how much his relationship with music has changed in a recent podcast interview.
“I'm basically deaf,” the former Huey Lewis and the News singer said in an episode of the “Inside of You” podcast released Tuesday. “My life has changed enormously. I can't listen to music. Music is no longer part of my life, which is a hard pill to swallow.”
Lewis explained that he uses a cochlear implant to help him hear and understand speech, but he can't distinguish pitch because of the way the device works.
“My cochlear implant breaks everything down into digital bits so I can understand it,” he said. “Speech is easier to listen to than music. Music happens at all frequencies, with overtones and harmonics and everything. It comes to you at many different frequencies, so to me it distorts… It makes the tone impossible to hear.”
The “The Power of Love” singer explained that because of this he can no longer enjoy music.
“When I cook or have people over for dinner, I always play music for them,” he said. “I have a big collection of old big band stuff and old New Orleans jazz and I don't play it anymore… It's weird. I can hear the beat, I know what's going on. But I can't enjoy it.”
“Music used to be a lot of fun,” he added. But “it ends up being frustrating for me when I can't enjoy it. I can't feel the heat.”
Lewis previously spoke about his struggles with hearing loss with The Times. The “Hip to Be Square” singer said the diagnosis of Meniere's disease in early 2018 was “brutal.”
“When it first happened, I thought it would be better to kill myself,” Lewis said in the 2020 interview, describing him as “surprisingly optimistic” for someone whose life was so deeply affected by the diagnosis. Meniere's disease is an inner ear disorder that can cause severe dizziness, ringing in the ears, hearing loss, and feelings of stuffiness in the ears, according to the NIH. Not much is known about its causes and there is still no cure.
While it's clear that Lewis misses aspects of his musical life, he also seems to appreciate having time for his other passions, as his life doesn't revolve around being on the road performing 75 to 100 shows a year.
“I fish a lot,” Lewis said on the “Inside of You” podcast. “I love fly fishing and I love Mother Nature. I go out on a stream by myself and direct nature with my rod and it's a wonderful thing. I love doing it and you don't have to listen.”
