Huey Lewis and the News have cancelled their 2018 tour due to Lewis experiencing a sudden hearing loss.

Huey thinks the cause of his hearing loss is Meniere’s Disease, an inner ear disorder that causes vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, tinnitus and ear pressure.

His doctors told him that he should not perform until his hearing improves. Lewis released a statement on Twitter explaining more about why he had to cancel the show.

“Two and a half months ago, just before a show in Dallas, I lost most of my hearing,” Lewis said on Twitter. “Although I can still hear a little one to one, and on the phone, I can’t hear music well enough to sing. The lower frequencies distort  violently making it impossible to find pitch.” Lewis also expressed how awful he feels about having to cancel the tour and apologised to his fans.

A trend of musicians

Huey Lewis isn’t the first musician to recently admit that his hearing loss is affecting his music. Musicians such as Eric Clapton, The Who’s Roger Daltrey and ACDC’s Brian Johnson have also shared that they are dealing with hearing loss. As musicians get older, more are sharing that they are losing their hearing due to the loud environments they spent time in during their careers. Roger Daltrey went as far as to tell his fans to bring their earplugs to concerts to protect their hearing.

Just two minutes at a concert with 110dB of sound can damage your hearing. Music fans are encouraged to wear earplugs to protect themselves from losing their hearing and tinnitus.