Huey Lewis, the singer and songwriter for Huey Lewis and the News, announced that he was canceling all of his 2018 performances because of hearing loss, according to an article in USA Today.

According to a note posted on the band’s Twitter account, Lewis said he lost “most of his hearing” two months prior, before a show that was scheduled in Dallas. He went on to say that he had been diagnosed with Ménière’s disease—an inner ear disorder that causes vertigo and hearing loss, among other symptoms—and doctors recommended that he not perform until his condition improved.

“I can’t hear music well enough to sing,” said Lewis in the post. “The lower frequencies distort violently making it impossible to hear pitch.”

Huey Lewis and the News rose to fame in the early 1980s with songs like “The Power of Love,” which was featured in the film Back to the Future, “I Want a New Drug,” “Stuck with You,” and “Hip to be Square,” among others. Several of their albums were nominated for Grammy Awards, and all five albums released between 1982-1991 have been certified as Gold, Platinum, or Multi-platinum.

In 2001, Lewis, who was one of the keynote speakers at the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) Convention, recounted an experience with sudden hearing loss while duck hunting in the late ’90s. After visiting six specialists in different fields, Lewis’ hearing loss finally subsided when he went to audiologist Robert Sweetow for treatment.

“I think it’s because I agreed to speak to you folks,” Lewis said in his speech.

Lewis was also part of a marketing campaign for Oticon’s Dual hearing device in 2009, as well as it’s predecessor, the DELTA, in 2006.

To read the USA Today article in its entirety, please click here.

Source: USA Today

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