The Irish Mail on Sunday

Huey Lewis: Going deaf left me suicidal

- By James Desborough

ROCK veteran Huey Lewis has revealed he thought about taking his own life after he started to lose his hearing.

The singer has rare Meniere’s disease, which affects his ability to hear and sing, meaning he will never play live again.

Lewis, 69, was diagnosed in April last year and admits he considered overdosing on pills. Speaking about it for the first time, he told his local newspaper in Montana: ‘This has ruined everything. In the first two months of this, I was suicidal. I can honestly share that with you. I thought, s***, I’m just going to commit suicide.

‘I actually contemplat­ed my demise. You know, like pills. I figured pills were the easiest way to go. Would I have? I don’t know. This is now a year and eight months, and it’s awful. I can’t hear music. It’s hard enough to hear speech. But music is impossible.’

Huey Lewis And The News sold 30million records, won a Grammy, and were best known for the massive 1985 hit, The Power Of Love, which featured in the movie Back To The Future.

There is no known cure for Meniere’s disease, but Lewis has left no stone unturned in his bid to recover.

‘I’ve tried all the holistic stuff as well,’ he said. ‘Twenty supplement­s in the morning and 15 at night. I’ve done acupunctur­e and chiropract­ic; cranial massage and essential oils; low-salt diet, all organic, no caffeine. I haven’t had any caffeine in two years. No chocolate. But none of it works.’

Lewis was speaking ahead of the release of the band’s first new song in more than a decade. Her Love Is Killing Me was recorded in his last few days of being able to hear properly.

 ??  ?? HEYDAY: Singer Huey Lewis performing in 1984
HEYDAY: Singer Huey Lewis performing in 1984

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