Staying Fit
Rocker Eric Clapton, diva Barbra Streisand and rapper Will.i.am may be worlds apart musically but they share this in common: All three are having audio difficulties.
They’re among a growing number of musicians suffering from hearing loss after decades of exposure to loud music. The problem is especially prevalent in the ranks of boomer rockers, including Pete Townshend of The Who, Neil Young and Sting.
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According to a German study that analyzed the health insurance records of 7 million people from 2004 to 2008, working musicians are nearly four times more likely to suffer noise-induced hearing loss than those in any other profession. They also were 57 percent more likely to have tinnitus — ringing in the ears — brought on by their work.
Among musicians struggling with various forms of hearing loss:
• Who guitarist Pete Townshend, now nearly deaf, began losing his hearing in the ’70s. On "The Who Tour 1989," he played guitar behind a glass partition. Who singer Roger Daltrey also suffers from hearing loss.
• Neil Young says his tinnitus began with the recording of 1991 live album Weld, which is why he followed it with mellower Harvest Moon.
• Barbra Streisand, also a tinnitus victim, first had symptoms at age 9.
• Eric Clapton blames his loss of hearing on cranking up the amps during his youth and regrets not heeding warnings to turn down the volume and wear earplugs.
• Ozzy Osbourne says his long career of playing excruciatingly loud metal music left him with a serious case of tinnitus.
• George Martin, the late producer of Beatles albums, began experiencing hearing loss in the ’70s after years of long stretches in the studio. Nearly deaf when he retired in 1998, he was wearing two hearing aids and had learned to lip-read.
• Thomas Bangalter, half of the electronic music duo Daft Punk, quit performing in small clubs to preserve what’s left of his hearing. He got tinnitus after years of exposure to loud music.
• Anthony Kiedis, singer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, developed tinnitus during the band’s tour with Nirvana in the early ’90s.
• Danny Elfman gave up performing live with his band Oingo Boingo when his hearing began to fade, and turned to the studio, launching a career as a movie composer.
More on health
Are You Losing Your Hearing?
Where to get tested and find the best treatment
Check Out the AARP Hearing Center
Check Out the AARP Hearing Center