For decades, music was at the center of Huey Lewis’s world.
His voice became one of the defining sounds of American pop rock, while songs performed with Huey Lewis and the News became familiar to generations of listeners. From radio stations to movie soundtracks, his music became part of everyday life.
So imagine what it must feel like when the very thing that once shaped your career becomes something you can no longer experience in the same way.
That is the reality Huey Lewis recently described in a candid conversation.
During a July 7, 2026 episode of the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, Lewis spoke openly about his long experience with Ménière’s disease and severe hearing loss. He explained that while modern hearing technology allows him to understand conversations, music has become much harder to appreciate because of the way sound and pitch are perceived through his devices.
For a musician whose career was built around melody, rhythm, and performance, the change has been profound.
Yet Lewis’s story is not only about what he has lost.
It is also about adaptation, nature, friendship, and discovering a different kind of fulfillment.
Huey Lewis and the Sound That Defined an Era
Huey Lewis became widely known as the frontman of Huey Lewis and the News, a band that achieved major success during the 1980s.
Songs such as “The Power of Love,” “I Want a New Drug,” and “The Heart of Rock & Roll” became closely associated with the era. “The Power of Love” also gained another generation of listeners through the Back to the Future soundtrack.
Lewis’s connection to film extended beyond the soundtrack. He appeared briefly in Back to the Future, playing a memorable classroom audition scene before the film’s famous musical moments.
Music was therefore more than a profession.
It was a way of communicating.
It was part of his daily routine, his friendships, his performances, and his identity.
That makes his recent reflections particularly meaningful.
When Hearing Began to Change
Lewis explained that his hearing difficulties did not begin suddenly in 2018.
According to his recent podcast interview, he had been diagnosed with Ménière’s disease decades earlier and lost hearing in his right ear more than 30 years ago. For a long period, he continued his career while relying primarily on his remaining hearing.
Ménière’s disease is an inner-ear disorder associated with symptoms that can include hearing changes, ringing in the ear, and episodes of dizziness or vertigo.
For Lewis, the progression eventually became impossible to ignore.
In 2018, his hearing deteriorated significantly enough that he had to step away from touring with the band.
That moment represented a major turning point.
For many performers, taking the stage is not simply a job. It is part of a lifestyle built over decades.
Suddenly, Lewis had to imagine life without the regular rhythm of rehearsals, concerts, travel, and interaction with audiences.
Why Music Sounds Different to Huey Lewis
One of the most striking parts of Lewis’s recent conversation was his explanation that hearing speech and experiencing music are not necessarily the same thing.
Lewis uses a cochlear implant and hearing technology that help him understand conversations. However, he explained that music remains difficult because he cannot perceive pitch in the way he once could.
This distinction is important.
Music contains multiple frequencies, tones, harmonics, and layers that work together to create the experience listeners recognize as melody.
A hearing device can provide valuable access to sound, but it does not necessarily reproduce every aspect of natural hearing exactly as it was previously experienced.
For Lewis, that means he can understand someone speaking while finding music distorted or difficult to enjoy.
He described this as particularly frustrating because music had been such a central part of his everyday life.
“Music Is Not Part of My Life Anymore”
Lewis used remarkably direct language when describing the change.
He said that he cannot hear music in the way he once did and described music as no longer being part of his life.
The statement carries particular weight because of who he is.
For someone who spent decades surrounded by instruments, recording sessions, rehearsals, concerts, and songs, losing access to music represents much more than a change in entertainment preferences.
It affects memory and routine.
Lewis recalled how he once played music while cooking or when friends visited for dinner. He has a collection of older big-band recordings and New Orleans jazz that he once enjoyed sharing with other people.
Now, those familiar recordings can be difficult to experience.
Yet he explained that sometimes he still plays them because he knows the music so well.
He can recognize the rhythm and understand what is happening, even though the musical experience itself has changed.
That detail reveals how deeply music remains connected to his memories.
The Challenge of Hearing Loss for a Musician
Hearing is fundamental to musical performance.
Musicians depend on their ability to distinguish pitch, timing, volume, tone, and the relationships between different instruments and voices.
A singer must hear their own voice in relation to the rest of the arrangement.
A band must listen to one another.
Even small changes in pitch can influence how a performance feels.
For Lewis, the difficulty is therefore especially significant.
He is not simply missing background sound.
He has lost access to one of the central elements of the profession that defined his life.
The experience also demonstrates why hearing health can be especially important for musicians and other performers who work around amplified sound.
Lewis’s story is personal, but it also highlights the complex relationship between hearing and music.
Hearing Technology Has Given Him Something Important
Although his hearing technology cannot reproduce music in the way Lewis would like, it has still made a meaningful difference.
During his conversation, he explained that his cochlear implant helps him understand speech.
That ability matters enormously.
Communication is one of the most important parts of daily life, and being able to participate in conversations can help people remain connected with family, friends, colleagues, and communities.
Lewis’s experience illustrates an important point about modern hearing technology.
Improving access to speech does not necessarily mean restoring every aspect of natural hearing.
Different sounds can be experienced differently.
For Lewis, conversation is much more accessible than music.
That distinction may be difficult for people with typical hearing to imagine, but it is central to understanding his experience.
Finding a New Passion in Fly Fishing
Perhaps the most uplifting part of Lewis’s story is what he has found outside music.
He has become deeply interested in fly fishing.
Lewis explained that he loves being outdoors, particularly in natural surroundings, and enjoys spending time in streams with his fly rod.
The activity offers something music can no longer provide.
It does not depend on precise hearing.
Instead, it allows him to focus on nature, movement, water, concentration, and the experience of being outside.
In his podcast appearance, Lewis described fishing as a wonderful part of his current life and emphasized that hearing is not required for him to enjoy it.
That change represents more than finding a new hobby.
It is an example of adaptation.
When circumstances change, people sometimes discover interests they might never have explored otherwise.
A Different Kind of Freedom
Lewis also reflected on something surprising.
If his hearing had remained intact, he believes he might still be performing between 75 and 100 shows a year.
On one level, that sounds like something he might naturally miss.
And he does.
He misses the camaraderie of his bandmates.
He misses the unique atmosphere surrounding life on the road.
But he also recognizes that his current life has given him experiences he might otherwise have missed.
Fishing has taken him to beautiful places.
It has introduced him to different people.
It has allowed him to spend time in nature.
That perspective does not erase the difficulty of hearing loss.
Instead, it shows how someone can acknowledge a major change while still looking for meaningful possibilities.
The Emotional Side of Losing Music
For Lewis, the emotional impact appears closely connected to identity.
When a person has spent decades building a career around a particular ability, losing that ability can raise difficult questions.
Who am I now?
What does my life look like without the work that once defined me?
What interests remain?
What can I still enjoy?
These questions are not unique to musicians.
People can face similar transitions when careers change, circumstances shift, or familiar activities become difficult.
Lewis’s response offers one possible lesson: identity can have more than one dimension.
He is still a musician in the sense that his history, songs, memories, and influence remain.
But he is also an outdoors enthusiast, a fisherman, a friend, and a person continuing to explore life in a different way.
Hope for Future Hearing Technology
Despite everything he has experienced, Lewis has not completely abandoned hope.
During the podcast conversation, he expressed optimism that technology may continue to improve.
He also discussed future cochlear implant technology that could potentially be more convenient and less externally visible.
More importantly, he remains interested in the possibility that future advances could improve the experience of music for people who rely on cochlear implants.
The technology available today has already transformed communication for many people with significant hearing loss.
Future developments may continue that progress.
There is no guarantee that any particular technology will restore Lewis’s ability to experience music as he once did, but his hope reflects a broader reality: hearing science continues to evolve.
What Huey Lewis’s Story Teaches Us About Adaptation
There is an understandable temptation to focus only on what has changed for Lewis.
He cannot experience music as he once did.
He no longer performs on the road in the same way.
A major part of his professional identity has been transformed.
But his recent comments reveal another side of the story.
He has found something new.
Fly fishing has given him a way to spend time outdoors, explore new places, meet people, and enjoy an activity that does not depend heavily on hearing.
That does not replace music.
And Lewis does not pretend that it does.
Instead, it gives him another reason to look forward.
That may be one of the most valuable lessons in his experience.
Adaptation does not always mean replacing something we loved with something equally important.
Sometimes it means accepting that life has changed and discovering what can still bring meaning.
A Career That Continues to Resonate
Although Lewis can no longer experience his music in the same way, his musical legacy remains accessible to millions of listeners.
His songs continue to appear on radio stations, playlists, movie soundtracks, and nostalgic collections.
The music he helped create has become part of popular culture.
That creates an interesting contrast.
Lewis may not be able to hear his own songs as he once did, but audiences around the world can still experience them.
His voice continues to exist in recordings.
His performances remain preserved.
And the songs continue to introduce new listeners to a distinctive chapter in pop music history.
In that sense, the music has taken on a life beyond the person who created it.
Final Reflection: When Life Changes Its Rhythm
Huey Lewis’s story is ultimately about much more than hearing loss.
It is about what happens when an important part of life suddenly becomes different.
For decades, music gave Lewis a career, a community, and a way to express himself.
Today, he experiences the world differently.
Yet his recent reflections suggest that a changed life does not necessarily mean an empty one.
He still values friendship.
He still remembers the excitement of performing.
He still has hope for technology.
And he has found a new sense of peace beside streams and rivers with a fly rod in his hands.
There is something quietly powerful about that perspective.
Sometimes we measure a life by the things we can continue doing.
But perhaps another way is to consider what we discover after circumstances change.
For Huey Lewis, the rhythm of life may sound different now.
The music may no longer be accessible in the same way.
But there are still stories to tell, places to explore, people to meet, and moments worth appreciating.
And perhaps that is the most lasting lesson in his journey: when one chapter changes, curiosity can help us discover what the next one has to offer.
Sources
Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, “HUEY LEWIS: Losing Music to Deafness, Back to the Future Magic & Fishing for a New Life,” July 7, 2026. The episode provides the primary source for Lewis’s recent comments about hearing loss, music, cochlear implants, and fly fishing.
Huey Lewis and the News Official Website, July 2026. The band’s official website confirms Lewis’s appearance on the Inside of You podcast and provides additional context about his recent public appearances.
San Francisco Chronicle, “Huey Lewis says, ‘Music is not part of my life anymore’,” July 2026. The report provides additional background on Lewis’s hearing loss, his career, and his current relationship with music.
People, “Huey Lewis Opens Up About How Being ‘Basically Deaf’ Has Changed His Life,” July 2026. The report summarizes Lewis’s discussion of Ménière’s disease, hearing technology, music, and his new interest in fly fishing.
Mayo Clinic, Ménière’s disease resources. This provides general medical background on the condition and should be consulted for health information rather than relying on celebrity interviews alone.