Dave Grohl spoke candidly regarding his hearing problem.
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The Foo Fighters frontman made an appearance on the Howard Stern Show on Tuesday to promote the rock band’s horror film Studio 666. But halfway through the interview, the conversation turned to how the musician’s hearing had been damaged due to his rock concert appearances since the late 1980s.
“My ears are always tuned to certain frequencies,” the musician explained, noting that he can hear perfectly well in the recording studio, but finds social settings more difficult. “If you were sitting next to me right here at a dinner party, I wouldn’t understand a word you said to me,” he added.
“The worst in this pandemic, he explained, is the masks. I have been lip reading for 20 years. So when someone comes up to me and (speaks), I say, ‘I’m a rock musician. I’m deaf. I can’t hear anything you’re saying.
Dave Grohl went on to share that he was diagnosed with tinnitus and hearing damage, and the whole thing is worse for his left ear than the right. Even though he can wear earplugs on stage, he says they would only be an annoyance for him.
“I want to be able to hear the audience in front of me, and I want to be able to turn around and hear Taylor (Hawkins, drummer) right there. I have had the same type of monitor for 31 years. He’s in my head. So even though I don’t use earbuds, the sound on stage is perfect for me,” continued the 53-year-old musician. “I have little ear holes and when I put these things on they just pop out. I don’t want to look like a praying mantis with this stuff on my head. I just want to go out there and give it my all,” he explained.
Studio 666 is scheduled for release on February 25 in Canada and the United States.