Sugar Ray Frontman Mark McGrath Reveals He’s Going Deaf
HOLLYWOOD, CA – NOVEMBER 30: Singer Mark McGrath attends the 83rd Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade with musical performances by Grand Marshal Stevie Wonder and legendary, award-winning artists on November 30, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for Hollywood Christmas Parade)
Mark McGrath has just revealed that he is losing his hearing and that he doesn’t know what that will mean for his career.
In an interview with DailyMailTV, McGrath said he has already lost most of his hearing already.
“I’m deaf now. I cannot hear any more,” McGrath said. “It’s years and years of being on the road and being two feet in front of cymbals and drums. So high frequencies, I can’t hear anymore. I’ll be listening to people and they’ll tell me their names and I can’t hear anymore.”
“It’s scary because my job is hearing,” the 51-year-old singer, whose hits in the ’90s and early 2000s included “Fly,” “Every Morning” and “Someday,” said. “[The future of my career] is absolutely a worry of mine.”
McGrath said doctors have advised him to wear in-ear monitors, which are a type of hearing aide for musicians. But he’s said he has been stubborn and resistant, in spite of their recommendations.
“Fortunately for the new generation, they have in-ears. I’m dumb enough not to use them though,” he said. “I still need the sight sounds and smells of a concert and that includes the auditory part, but unfortunately, mine’s going.”
“You can’t repair your hearing,” he added. “Once it goes, it goes. You can hope to stop the damage.”
