Huey Lewis says he contemplated suicide after hearing disorder was diagnosed
Huey Lewis walks the red carpet at the 2018 So the World May Hear Awards Gala benefiting the Starkey Hearing Foundation at the Saint Paul RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minn., on July 15, 2018. Credit: Getty Images / Adam Bettcher
Rocker Huey Lewis, who has struggled with the hearing disorder Meniere's disease, says the affliction that has forced him to stop touring had made him suicidal when first diagnosed in 2018.
"In the first two months of this, I was suicidal," the 67-year-old told the art and literary magazine Whitefish Review, based in Montana, where he has a home. "I can honestly share that with you. I thought … I'm just going to commit suicide. I actually contemplated my demise. You know, like pills. I figured pills were the easiest way to go. I mean, would I have? I don't know.”
Since becoming acclimated, he added that now, "I read more. When my hearing is really bad, I'm better off by myself. … I'm in my cocoon, and I'm fine. I can read and I have devices to hook up to my phone through my hearing aids. And I have more powerful ones if these don't work."
