Ok, before some of you jump on me like a chicken after a June bug, hear me out. If someone has already talked about this in years past, you may. Well, here goes anyway.

In my life, I have noticed that men begin to suffer hearing loss before women, usually noticeable by the time they are 60 or so. In the rural environment, it is caused by shooting shotguns while hunting without hearing protection, tractors & their equipment, chain saws, the list goes on and on. Due to lifestyles, women may not be exposed to quite as many of these. (Not trying to pidgeon-hole people, I have worked in a male-dominated career all my adult life.)

In the urban environment, it might be traffic, airplanes, mowers, and listening to music tooooo loud. I am thinking back to the ZZ top concert I went to when I was younger...couldn't really hear well for 3 days after. That's what you get when your roommate in college works at the ticket office and you get to sit in the second row!! Wow, that wall of sound was massive.

If Prince was beginning to suffer from this oh-so-gradual type of hearing loss, I would imagine it would be very awful for him. After all, it was his life's obession. I had to give up a life-long sport once due to the crappy aging process, and I was pretty much in denial about it for about a year.

Anyhow, no matter what else was going on with him physically, everybody ages. It sucks, but we do. I hope it was NOT happening already to him, but it may have been.

I think we all do, fortunately i've never failed a hearing test but i certainly don't consider my hearing stellar. I have to ask people to repeat things sometimes when there is a lot of other noise around. also, i think we lose the higher frequencies before anything else, my mentor used to not hear his female receptionist call him, sometimes i'd laugh because i couldn't tell if he was intentionally playing dear or whether hye really couldn't hear her. as far as prince or any pro rock musician today, it'stlan occupational hazard, i'd seriously doubt if he didn't have significant hearing loss. it could have just been one more problem to go along with his other problems from all the years of work. someone said years ago here that they thought prince was losing his high end hearing because of how he was mixing his stuff, they were probably right. I remember when i was a boy, i asked my dad why old ladies used so much perfume, he said because they lost their smell and couldn't smell how much they were putting on. I've been lucky as a musician and an athlete, getting older, my music skills haven't faltered a bit, i'm better than ever, of course atheletically i've lost a lot and can't lose my weight like i want to but i'm surprised how little i've lost compared to how much i would have thought when i was younger. the biggest problem, by far, for both is not having the same drive i used to.

I do not know how people like Prince and his musicians can go through years of exposure to intense noise and not go deaf or have tinnitus or other issues (and many a rock star does suffer from hearing issues). IDK whether Prince and the band had some earplugs of sorts durting performances, and if so when Prince began to use them, but I know I almost went deaf the last time i saw Prince on stage in 2010: the sound level was ridiculous, and quite unnecessarily loud to be honest.

I was shot at from short range 20 years ago, and didnt hear from 1 side for a day or two. The hearing came back and actually better than the unharmed ear. I do hear very good with both ears, i hear the small things far away that no-one else hears. But until today i have tinnitus in the shot-at ear. Much less than it used to be, but it was awful for many years.
I can surely say that vision becomes worse with age, but hearing not, yet.

Prince gave me tinnitus and conductive hearing loss. My first Prince concert was in 1998 and it was general admission. I hadn't ever really been to a concert in which I was right up against the stage almost so didn't know I should have worn ear plugs, and I was right in front of his speakers, stage left. I felt like I was hearing underwater for almost 3 weeks after that concert. I still have tinnitus and it's getting worse, and it's a result of conductive hearing loss, which was a result of my first Prince concert. :-s BUT I have NO regrets! That begin my desire to knwo more about him, my giving in and getting a computer and the internet, my meeting lifelong friends....nope, no regrets.

benni said:

Prince gave me tinnitus and conductive hearing loss. My first Prince concert was in 1998 and it was general admission. I hadn't ever really been to a concert in which I was right up against the stage almost so didn't know I should have worn ear plugs, and I was right in front of his speakers, stage left. I felt like I was hearing underwater for almost 3 weeks after that concert. I still have tinnitus and it's getting worse, and it's a result of conductive hearing loss, which was a result of my first Prince concert. :-s BUT I have NO regrets! That begin my desire to knwo more about him, my giving in and getting a computer and the internet, my meeting lifelong friends....nope, no regrets.

one concert did that? wow, i didn't know one concert could do that. both times i saw prince, i left with a migraine, it was the same for any other artist, i could honestly do without the excess volume but that's rock and roll. i practice piano and sometimes i can tell the volume is bothering my ears but fortunately, i'm ok for the most part still. I never use amplification when i practice, no need to really.

PeteSilas said:

benni said:

Prince gave me tinnitus and conductive hearing loss. My first Prince concert was in 1998 and it was general admission. I hadn't ever really been to a concert in which I was right up against the stage almost so didn't know I should have worn ear plugs, and I was right in front of his speakers, stage left. I felt like I was hearing underwater for almost 3 weeks after that concert. I still have tinnitus and it's getting worse, and it's a result of conductive hearing loss, which was a result of my first Prince concert. :-s BUT I have NO regrets! That begin my desire to knwo more about him, my giving in and getting a computer and the internet, my meeting lifelong friends....nope, no regrets.

one concert did that? wow, i didn't know one concert could do that. both times i saw prince, i left with a migraine, it was the same for any other artist, i could honestly do without the excess volume but that's rock and roll. i practice piano and sometimes i can tell the volume is bothering my ears but fortunately, i'm ok for the most part still. I never use amplification when i practice, no need to really.

Yes, it can. And research is just now showing that. My hearing loss is most noticeable if there is some kind of background noise. It's hard for me to differentiate between the person speaking to me and the background noise. If the TV is on and my kids say something to me, I have to get them to repeat it, because I have to focus fully on them to be able to hear them, or turn mute the TV so I can hear them. And the ringing (mainly in my right ear, which was turned to the speakers more so I could watch Prince) is constant. I have some in my left ear, but not as much as my right.


https://www.dailyherald.c...150809940/ -

Could one concert do a lifetime of damage to your ears?

[Edited 8/5/18 5:31am]

interesting, I think i have the same problem with background noise, it's hard to filter out, however i never failed a hearing test but I have always felt my hearing is not as good as the average persons. As I get older, I find myself doing what my mentor used to do, which is to lean one ear closer to the other person and say "huh". I feel that most people don't speak clearly to begin with and in the city, with constant noise, traffic, construction, it's difficult. I had a hs teacher who lived through ww2, in poland, he said he was in a bomb shelter one time during shelling and he felt something running down the sides of his head, it was blood and he was temporarily deaf.

benni said:

PeteSilas said:

one concert did that? wow, i didn't know one concert could do that. both times i saw prince, i left with a migraine, it was the same for any other artist, i could honestly do without the excess volume but that's rock and roll. i practice piano and sometimes i can tell the volume is bothering my ears but fortunately, i'm ok for the most part still. I never use amplification when i practice, no need to really.

Yes, it can. And research is just now showing that. My hearing loss is most noticeable if there is some kind of background noise. It's hard for me to differentiate between the person speaking to me and the background noise. If the TV is on and my kids say something to me, I have to get them to repeat it, because I have to focus fully on them to be able to hear them, or turn mute the TV so I can hear them. And the ringing (mainly in my right ear, which was turned to the speakers more so I could watch Prince) is constant. I have some in my left ear, but not as much as my right.


https://www.dailyherald.c...150809940/ -

Could one concert do a lifetime of damage to your ears?

[Edited 8/5/18 5:31am]

PeteSilas said:

interesting, I think i have the same problem with background noise, it's hard to filter out, however i never failed a hearing test but I have always felt my hearing is not as good as the average persons. As I get older, I find myself doing what my mentor used to do, which is to lean one ear closer to the other person and say "huh". I feel that most people don't speak clearly to begin with and in the city, with constant noise, traffic, construction, it's difficult. I had a hs teacher who lived through ww2, in poland, he said he was in a bomb shelter one time during shelling and he felt something running down the sides of his head, it was blood and he was temporarily deaf.

benni said:

Yes, it can. And research is just now showing that. My hearing loss is most noticeable if there is some kind of background noise. It's hard for me to differentiate between the person speaking to me and the background noise. If the TV is on and my kids say something to me, I have to get them to repeat it, because I have to focus fully on them to be able to hear them, or turn mute the TV so I can hear them. And the ringing (mainly in my right ear, which was turned to the speakers more so I could watch Prince) is constant. I have some in my left ear, but not as much as my right.


https://www.dailyherald.c...150809940/ -

Could one concert do a lifetime of damage to your ears?

[Edited 8/5/18 5:31am]

I wish I had passed my hearing test! I hate the idea of losing my hearing, because conductive hearing loss just gets worse, and the thought of not being able to listen to music any more....ugh!

I can't imagine what your friend went through. Just going through the shelling, and then to experience blood running down the sides of his head, scary!

I read that Prince was experiencing hearing loss. I am forgetting where I read it.

He was also experiencing vertigo at times. In his bathroom, there was a box of ear wax removal stuff.

I think there may have been a correlation betweeen vertigo and wax build-up.

peggyon said:

I read that Prince was experiencing hearing loss. I am forgetting where I read it.

He was also experiencing vertigo at times. In his bathroom, there was a box of ear wax removal stuff.

I think there may have been a correlation betweeen vertigo and wax build-up.

There could be correlation between the verito and wax build-up. You mess with the inner ear and it's going to throw you off-balance! My son had a really bad inner ear infection and he was just all over the place, dizzy, and couldn't walk in a straight line.

But, it could also be the pills he was taking. I actually fainted one time from a percocet at the House of Blues during a George Clinton concert. I got overheated (all those bodies so close and it was stifling in there!), knew I was getting dizzy and overheated and started on my way outside to get cooled down, and my blood pressure bottomed out and I went out. That was just one pill, prescribed by my doctor, for a blood clot. (I really shouldn't have went to the concert with a blood clot and on pain medicaiton, but a friend of mine really wanted to go and didn't want to go alone, and was saying Prince might be there because he was in L.A., and it was George Clinton, and I was much younger then and foolish!)

benni said:

peggyon said:

I read that Prince was experiencing hearing loss. I am forgetting where I read it.

He was also experiencing vertigo at times. In his bathroom, there was a box of ear wax removal stuff.

I think there may have been a correlation betweeen vertigo and wax build-up.

There could be correlation between the verito and wax build-up. You mess with the inner ear and it's going to throw you off-balance! My son had a really bad inner ear infection and he was just all over the place, dizzy, and couldn't walk in a straight line.

But, it could also be the pills he was taking. I actually fainted one time from a percocet at the House of Blues during a George Clinton concert. I got overheated (all those bodies so close and it was stifling in there!), knew I was getting dizzy and overheated and started on my way outside to get cooled down, and my blood pressure bottomed out and I went out. That was just one pill, prescribed by my doctor, for a blood clot. (I really shouldn't have went to the concert with a blood clot and on pain medicaiton, but a friend of mine really wanted to go and didn't want to go alone, and was saying Prince might be there because he was in L.A., and it was George Clinton, and I was much younger then and foolish!)

i could definitely see cleaning your ears causing vertigo cause it happened to me when i did it. there must be some correlation between how boxers respond to punches and vertigo too, it's not completely unalike, believe me, i have been hit pretty hard before, never kayoed but knocked down and wobbled. there was a fight i remember where the guy claimed he couldn't fight because a busted ear drum fucked up his balance, boxers make all kinds of excuses but i think that one was legit.

If I read the forum so P had everything;) I wonder that P could even give concerts without help;)

Nuernberg72 said:

If I read the forum so P had everything;) I wonder that P could even give concerts without help;)

No, this is all suppostition. How old are you Nuernbergie?? Some of us are regular crypt keepers- Ha. Just have fun wit it, we are trying to have a sense of humor about our crappy aging bodies.

Something I saw over a door on a famous crypt in Rome- "As I am, so shall YOU be..." Scary, huh?

I've been a musician since 1977 and hearing damage is part of the package. its inevitable and no musician is immune from it. I managed to stop the progression of the damage by not performing live anymore and keeping the volume low on amplifiers

Seahorsie said:

Nuernberg72 said:

Seahorsie said:

No, this is all suppostition. How old are you Nuernbergie?? Some of us are regular crypt keepers- Ha. Just have fun wit it, we are trying to have a sense of humor about our crappy aging bodies.

Something I saw over a door on a famous crypt in Rome- "As I am, so shall YOU be..." Scary, huh?

if you think that you are old, you will be. everything you think is true! and now I have to lie down and rest. that's the best when you're old

So you're 30 - tops. Got it.

Nuernberg72 said:

Seahorsie said:

No, this is all suppostition. How old are you Nuernbergie?? Some of us are regular crypt keepers- Ha. Just have fun wit it, we are trying to have a sense of humor about our crappy aging bodies.

Something I saw over a door on a famous crypt in Rome- "As I am, so shall YOU be..." Scary, huh?

if you think that you are old, you will be. everything you think is true! and now I have to lie down and rest. that's the best when you're old

alot of it is mental, a lot of it. my mentor who is still alive at 94 would move and work like a young man in his mid 70's. Our relationship ended badly but the one thing I hope I learned was how to be old. It wasn't like he'd never had injuries either, he had all kinds of old injuries but he was from a different era, people used to be plain tougher.

Yeah, I don't really pay much attention to the number. Some of the people in my family have been blessed with longevity, so I am trying to appreciate a long path & take care of myself! (paternal grandmother lived to be 98)

I am closer to the little Yoda's age than most of you all, but I don't feel it most of the time. Going to the gym and working outdoors helps a lot. I am currently trying to up my fitness for a mission trip out of the country this winter, so also working out my spiritual journey. I think it is all about balance in your life....and serving others.

Seahorsie said:

Yeah, I don't really pay much attention to the number. Some of the people in my family have been blessed with longevity, so I am trying to appreciate a long path & take care of myself! (paternal grandmother lived to be 98)

I am closer to the little Yoda's age than most of you all, but I don't feel it most of the time. Going to the gym and working outdoors helps a lot. I am currently trying to up my fitness for a mission trip out of the country this winter, so also working out my spiritual journey. I think it is all about balance in your life....and serving others.

I'am with you. but when I read what P allegedly had everything I have to smile sometimes.
we will never know and I can live with it. for me he will always be the man who has super power!
I am 46;)

[Edited 8/8/18 3:27am]

I had noticed and even mentioned on here on many occasions that his later albums especially AOA sounded very tinny with a massive spike in the high-frequency range.

The decline in the ability to hear high-frequency sounds is a very common age-related hearing symptom. And you could tell he was having trouble hearing that range in his singing and albums mixes, and obviously overcompensated compensated for it. I think that is part of the "plastic" sound of his later albums.

It's sad, but it happens to all of us. It's especially sad when your job and art depend on it.

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

I had noticed and even mentioned on here on many occasions that his later albums especially AOA sounded very tinny with a massive spike in the high-frequency range.

The decline in the ability to hear high-frequency sounds is a very common age-related hearing symptom. And you could tell he was having trouble hearing that range in his singing and albums mixes, and obviously overcompensated compensated for it. I think that is part of the "plastic" sound of his later albums.

It's sad, but it happens to all of us. It's especially sad when your job and art depend on it.

I honestly wonder if that was the biggest factor in his death, his inability to accept a gradual diminishment in his abilities, first the splits and the pain that he supposedly had, rumours of other physical issues which haven't been verified by anyone officially.

I've brought this up before but a James Brown sideman said the reason James got into lsd and drugs at an age when it's unheard of (55) was that he couldn't handle losing his ability. Athletes commonly go through depression after they retire too. Some people can't handle aging, been many times i've casually said something about aging in conversation, just with earshot of some asshole who feels insecure about their own aging and they butt in all defensively, it's pathetic really. We're gonna get older as long as we're alive and we will all eventually die. Humility and grace is what we need to handle that.