Lulu has shared she has moderate hearing loss – as she embarks on her seventh decade of touring. The Scottish pop star, 75, had started to notice a change in her hearing and had it checked following her Glastonbury performance in June.
She admitted to struggling with ‘ringing in her ears for years’ before learning she now needs hearing aids because of the moderate hearing loss.
As a result, the ‘Shout’ singer has teamed up with Specsavers, where she had her hearing check, and the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) to encourage concert goers to take steps to protect their hearing.
She said: “After being on stage nearly all of my life, I have always noticed ringing and muffled sounds, but never really thought much of it. Music has always been a cornerstone of everything I do, so it’s incredibly important that I can still enjoy it.
“Wearing hearing aids will mean I can continue to hear every note. But it’s more than just this – connecting with people is a huge part of my life and I want to be able to join the conversation and not be left out of it.
“The good news is it’s not too late for me to preserve the rest of my hearing. Using hearing protection is also such a simple and easy thing to do when around live music and I’d urge other people to wear it.
“Music is still my life, and I plan to carry on enjoying it for many years to come.”
A poll of 900 concert and festival fans found half have had their hearing damaged because of loud music at shows as 35% admit to coming away with a muffled sensation in their hearing.
Four in ten (42%) have noticed a negative impact immediately after a performance, with 58% of them having ears ringing as they head for the exit. 23% have experienced temporary hearing loss, and 22% even having pain in their ears.
The survey also found getting as close to the front as possible and wearing sturdy shoes is more of a priority for gig goers than protecting their hearing.
With that 46% won’t wear hearing protection at shows this summer – with fans of indie, rock, and even classical music being the least likely to protect their hearing.
Of these gig goers, 44% don’t think they will be able to enjoy the experience if they wore hearing protection, while 36% believe it could alter the quality of the music and 23% don’t think live music can damage their hearing.
Gordon Harrison, chief audiologist at Specsavers, said: “With festival season well underway, it’s crucial for music lovers to protect their hearing.
“Repeated exposure to high decibel levels at gigs and festivals has the potential to lead to permanent damage, such as sound-induced hearing loss and tinnitus.
“In fact, hearing damage can start at around 85 dB if you are exposed to it for eight hours plus – such as at a festival – if you don’t wear hearing protection.
“Each additional 3 dB of volume cuts that exposure time in half, so by the time the volume reaches 100 dB, which is still less than the average gig, it could only take 15 minutes for your hearing to be damaged – which is quite scary.”
A separate survey, via OnePoll, polled 100 workers from venues with loud music, and found 92% have experienced a negative impact on their hearing with 34% of these reporting tinnitus and 31% hearing loss.
But 32% rarely or never wear hearing protection, such as ear plugs, at work – with 53% claiming their employer has not provided them with it.
The NTIA, which launched the Listen for Life campaign last year, has now developed the ‘Night Time Economy Charter’, which features in a new report by Specsavers called ‘It’s time to talk about hearing’ and is designed to help businesses better look after the hearing health of colleagues and customers.
DJ Woody Cook, who suffers from tinnitus which he believes has been caused by loud music, said: “Sometimes it makes me feel like I have a continual electric buzz or high-pitched noise in my head which makes me feel really disorientated.”
“I love music – and obviously, I work as a DJ – so my tinnitus has a massive impact on my personal and professional life. I’m learning more about my hearing as time goes on, and I wish I had known about the risks earlier.”
“I’m now taking steps to protect my hearing from any further damage and would urge others to do the same – whether they’re music fans or work in the industry themselves.”