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Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl says he's 'deaf' and has been 'reading lips for like 20 years'

Feb 23, 2022, 18:33 IST
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Dave Grohl, frontman for the Foo Fighters.Rich Fury / Getty Images
  • Dave Grohl said face masks have made it harder for him to understand people.
  • The frontman told "The Howard Stern Show" that he has been reading lips for 20 years.
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Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl told "The Howard Stern Show" that he has been reading lips for 20 years due to damaging his hearing at concerts.

The former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters singer has previously revealed that he is going deaf in his left ear due to decades of performing on stage.

Grohl told Stern that the pandemic has made it harder to communicate with people because he is used to lip-reading.

"That's the worst thing about this pandemic shit is like people wearing masks," Grohl said. "I've been reading lips for like 20 years so when someone comes up to me they're like [muffled noises]. I'm like 'I'm a rock musician. I'm fucking deaf. I can't hear what you're saying.'"

Grohl said in the interview that he also has Tinnitus, a persistent ringing in the ears, in both ears. However, the ear damage is worse in his left due to years of playing the drum. Grohl added that although he could not hear people properly when they were sitting next to him in a crowded restaurant, his hearing was great when it came to creating new music.

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"I can hear the slightest little things," Grohl said. "Within the mix, I can fucking hear the minutia of everything we have done to that song like I really can."

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA: In this image released on May 2, Dave Grohl of music group Foo Fighters performs onstage during Global Citizen VAX LIVE: The Concert To Reunite The World at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Global Citizen VAX LIVE: The Concert To Reunite The World will be broadcast on May 8, 2021.(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Global Citizen VAX LIVE)

Grohl also told Stern that he refuses to use earpiece monitors, which can protect his ears, because it removes him "from the natural atmosphere sound" so he cannot hear his bandmates.

"I want to hear the audience in front of me and I want to be able to turn around and hear Taylor [Hawkins] right there and then go over here and hear Pat [Smear] and go over here and hear Chris [Shiflett] and stuff like that," Grohl said. "It messes with your spatial understanding of where you are on stage."

Grohl added that he has had the same monitor engineer, Ian Beveridge, for 31 years who makes sure the sound is perfect for him.

"So I'm not up there just getting my ass kicked by some loud stuff," He added. "It sounds great and I just don't like the in-ear things. Plus I have little fucking ear holes and those things when I put them in, they just pop out and I don't want to look like a praying mantis with these things all over my head."

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Grohl continued: "I want to go out there and go nuts."

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