The heart of rock and roll is still beating in rock legend Huey Lewis, but like many baby boomers, his hearing could use a little boost. “I just couldn’t hear stuff that I used to be able to hear,” says Lewis. “So I went and got checked, and sure enough, I had a fairly significant hearing loss.”
Lewis is not alone. One in six adults age 41 to 59 has some type of hearing problem and 65 percent of those people are still in the workforce.
Lewis’ hearing loss was a challenge to his full and active life. The talented musician is a founding member and lead vocalist of Huey Lewis and The News. For over 25 years the band has delivered their contagious brand of straight-ahead rock n’ roll which has outlasted countless trends, selling over 20 million albums worldwide in the process. The Grammy Award-winning group has released 11 albums and has written and performed such classic top 10 hits as “The Power of Love,” “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” “Stuck With You,” “Workin'’ For a Livin’” and “If This Is It.”
This year, as they do every summer, the band will wow fans young and old in a series of concerts in cities across the country.
Huey has also starred on the silver screen and the Broadway stage. His movie performances include the film “Back to the Future,” “Shortcuts,” for which he received a Golden Globe, “Sphere,” “Shadow of Doubt” and “Duets.” In 2005 and 2006, Lewis successfully portrayed Billy Flynn in the Broadway production of “Chicago.” Lewis has called “Chicago” “the perfect musical for me – I get to sing, dance and act. It was really challenging and really rewarding.”
Huey describes his hearing loss as “a gradual thing” that he had been aware of for about three years. “I first realized it when I was outdoors. I couldn’t hear birds and other sounds were really diminished.” As a man who spends his free time golfing, fly fishing and just enjoying the great outdoors, Lewis realized that a check-up with his audiologist was in order. “I knew I had lost a little bit [of hearing] because I’m a musician and we’ve played some loud music in our day. But I was surprised by the extent of the hearing loss,” he notes.
Huey’s audiologist suggested the musician try a recently introduced behind-the-ear hearing device called Oticon Delta – not only for the boost it would give him in noisy situations but also for its contemporary design.
Fashion has never been associated with hearing aids before. Many people still imagine “big beige bananas” behind the ear when thinking of hearing aids. This is certainly not the case with Delta. The new hearing device is the first of its kind – using a thin, transparent sound wire to place the speaker discreetly in the ear for the absolute best sound quality. Available in 17 different brushed metallic colors, ranging from Cabernet Red to Samoa Blue, this sleek device has a new attitude for a new generation of hearing aid users.
“My new hearing devices are decidedly more fashionable than old hearing aids,” reports Lewis, who was one of the first to wear the new Delta. “Hearing is everything. As a singer and musician, you can only play and sing as well as you can hear.
“They’re very, very natural for me – it’s even pretty hard for me to remember I have them on. I’ve got to make sure I take them off before I get in the shower! They are not only convenient and light but also work great,” reports Lewis. “I hear everything much more clearly. I used to hear the loudest things but I can hear peripheral things now too. In a noisy situation, like a restaurant or social event, I can hear conversation that I didn’t hear before and it’s just so much easier. I say ‘What?’ a lot less.”
Lewis was so impressed by Delta that he became a spokesperson for Oticon, singing Delta’s praises and sharing his own experiences in ads and informational materials developed for hearing care professionals and people with hearing loss. It may be “hip to be square,” but not addressing hearing loss is anything but hip, which is why Lewis hopes to help other baby boomers realize they don't have to sacrifice fashion or image to hear well again.
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