Dave Grohl is arguably one of the biggest rock stars of our time. His success has continued to grow ever since he got his start in iconic grunge band Nirvana in 1990. Now, 32 years on, the Foo Fighter’s frontman is more famous than ever, still making chart-topping music and still well and truly in the limelight.
His long-running and hugely successful career as a rock star is exactly why the revelation that Grohl has significant hearing loss is so shocking.
Opening up on The Howard Stern Show, the musician revealed that his hearing struggles are so serious that he can only “hear the slightest little things”.
“If you were sitting next to me right here at dinner, I wouldn’t understand a fucking word you were saying to me the whole fucking time,” Grohl said on the talk show. “There’s no way. In a crowded restaurant – that’s the worst.”
Grohl revealed that he commonly reads lips as a way to understand what people are saying to him, but has pointed out the struggles he’s faced since the pandemic began.
“The worst thing about this pandemic shit is people wearing masks. I’ve been reading lips for, like, 20 years… I’m a rock musician. I’m fucking deaf. I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
However, Grohl’s lack of hearing makes more sense when it’s revealed, during the interview, that Grohl doesn’t wear earpieces when on stage. Earpieces are designed to protect your ears in loud areas by blocking out the sound of the amplified instruments. If these devices aren’t used then significant ear damage can happen over time.
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“I tried the ear monitor thing a long time ago, but the problem I have with it is that it removes you from that natural atmosphere sound. I want to hear the audience in front of me. And I want to be able to turn around and hear Taylor right there… It messes with your spacial understanding of where you are on stage,” Dave said.
He added: “I just don’t like the ear things. Plus, I have little fucking ear holes, and those things when I put them in they just pop out. And, I don’t want to look like a praying mantis with these things all over my head.’
When asked whether he’s seen an ear doctor recently about the issue, Grohl revealed he hadn’t.
“I haven’t had them tested in a long time. I know what they’re going to say, they’re going to say, ‘You have hearing damage and tinnitus in your left ear more so than your right ear’. My left ear is worse than my right because of my snare drum and my stage monitor when I played the drums.”
Despite Grohl’s hearing struggles, the ‘Everlong’ singer said that he still has the ability to pick up specific sounds in the recording studio.
“When we go in to make a record, and we’re mixing an album, I can hear the slightest little things,” Grohl said. “My ears are still tuned in to certain frequencies, and if I hear something out of tune or a cymbal that’s not bright enough or something like that. In the mix, I can fucking hear the minutiae of everything we had done to that song.”
Watch the segment of Dave Grohl speaking about his hearing struggles:
