When you’re a GRAMMY award-winning musician, touring the world and entertaining fans with your music, one of the worst things that could happen to you would be to lose your hearing. But that’s what John Mellencamp says is happening and he’s at peace with it.
John Mellencamp said in a recent interview that he expects to be “totally deaf” by the end of touring, even though he wears earplugs on stage.
Hearing aids have been recommended, but Mellencamp says he will never wear them, after his grandmother once warned him that once you start wearing hearing aids, “you can’t live without them.”
John said he has been diagnosed with pulsatile tinnitus, which is a condition that causes him to hear his own heartbeat and have a nonstop ringing. Due to the ringing, John says he is avoiding restaurants because he cannot follow conversations and that he is taking some time off with his family in Indiana.
You can read more about John and how touring is taking a toll on him at Newser.