Dave Grohl Reveals He Has Hearing Loss: 'I've Been Reading Lips for 20 Years'

Dave Grohl is opening up about the hearing loss he's suffered after years of being a rock star.

During a conversation on SirusXM's The Howard Stern Show, the Foo Fighters frontman revealed that he has a hearing impairment, but has not had his ears checked out by a doctor.

“I know what they’re going to say,” Grohl shared. “’You have hearing damage (Tinnitus) in your left ear, more so than your right ear.’’ 

The 52-year-old rocker admitted that while he’s on stage, he doesn’t use ear monitors during concerts, because he believes they don’t allow him to fully hear what’s happening around him during the set. However, Grohl credits having the same sound technician for 31 years to helping him pull off each show seamlessly, despite the circumstances.  

“I’m not up there just getting my a** kicked by loud stuff,” he added. “It sounds great.”  

The hearing loss also hasn’t affected the way he hears and produces music. "My ears are still tuned in to certain frequencies,” the musician said. "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***ing hear the minutiae of everything that we have done to that song, I really can.” 

Grohl did share that outside of music, it’s hard to have a conversation. "If you were sitting next to me right here at dinner, I wouldn't understand a f***ing word you were saying to me, the whole f***ing time,”  he confessed. “There's no way. In a crowded restaurant, that's worse. That's the worst thing about this pandemic s**t, it's like, people wearing masks. 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***ing deaf. I can't hear what you're saying." 

The rocker joins a list of musicians, including Eric Clapton, Mark McGrath and Huey Lewis, who have opened up about their hearling loss.

Grohl and his bandmates recently caught up with ET to talk about their upcoming horror comedy, Studio 666, and if there’s a chance they will leave music for movie making.  

"I mean, we had such a blast making the movie. It was really fun, like we really did have a good time," Grohl said. "But you know, we're a rock-and-roll band. We love playing live and making hit records." 

RELATED CONTENT: 

Dave Grohl Talks 'Studio 666' and How Lionel Richie Cameo Came to Be

Dave Grohl Recalls Daughter Virginia Quoting Nirvana at 6th Grade Graduation in 'From Cradle to Stage' Finale

Dave Grohl Delivers Food to First Responders Fighting California Wildfires

Dave Grohl Praises All Mothers of Musicians and Talks ‘From Cradle to Stage’ (Exclusive)

This video is unavailable because we were unable to load a message from our sponsors.

If you are using ad-blocking software, please disable it and reload the page.

Up Next

Related Gallery

Must-See Celeb Sightings: February 2022