Dave Grohl Opens Up About His Severe Hearing Loss

Rockstars may seem like gods on stage, but playing concert after a concert has its consequences. For many musicians, their common enemy is hearing loss and tinnitus, which is high-pitched ringing in the ears. Such is the case with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, who recently confessed that his issues with hearing are much more serious than they used to be.

In a 1999 interview with Revolver (via Foo Archive), the former Nirvana drummer assured that his "ears are fine." However, Grohl admitted that "they do funny things once in a while. Like if I bend over, my right ear stops working." He also guessed that he will have a "stroke before I'm 33. I figure I'm not getting any blood to my brain." When asked why he refuses to wear ear plugs, he said that it's because he was a "stupid f**king punk-rock purist. I was like, 'F**k ear plugs man! That's not what it's all about!'"

While he acted nonchalant about it, he said that he was worried about his hearing after a visit to the ear doctor, where he had tons of ear wax removed from each ear. "That's the last thing I'm ever concerned about," he said. Fast-forward to today, at 53 years old, Grohl confessed that he "can't hear" anymore.

In a recent appearance on "The Howard Stern" show, David Grohl admitted his issues with hearing are incredibly graver than they used to be. He said he finds it challenging to communicate with other people in public and relies on lip-reading to get by, per People. "If you were sitting next to me right here at dinner, I wouldn't understand a f**king word you were saying to me, the whole f**king time," he shared. "I've been reading lips for like, 20 years, so when someone comes up to me and they're like [garbled noise], I'm like, 'I'm a rock musician. I'm f**king deaf, I can't hear what you're saying."

But while Grohl struggles with hearing people, he said that his musical prowess is very much intact, and he's still capable of sensing the "slightest little things." He added, "my ears are still tuned in to certain frequencies, and if I hear something that's slightly out of tune, or a cymbal that's not bright enough or something like that, in the mix, I can f**king hear the minutiae of everything that we have done to that song."

In a 2017 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Grohl said that he has long accepted that his hearing issues are the result of his chosen career. "All the years playing live have f**king with my hearing. So I just thought it was "fame,'" he joked.