Hearing Loss Doesn’t Have to Slow You Down: Famous People with Hearing Loss

Whether hearing loss is gradual as you age or begins in childhood, it doesn’t have to slow you down or have a negative impact on your life.  Here are some people you might recognize that have hearing loss, and it hasn’t stopped them from becoming successful. 

Musicians

For many people in the music business, hearing loss is an occupational hazard.

Pete Townshend

If you know rock music you know Pete Townshend. As a guitarist for The Who, his partial hearing loss is a direct result of performing for years in loud concerts.  How loud?  The Guinness Book of Records claims The Who’s 1976 London performance was the “Loudest Concert Ever.” Townshend helped to fund the non-profit hearing advocacy group H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers).  One way he now protects what is left of his hearing is with an in-ear monitor (IEM).

Danny Elfman

If you’ve ever enjoyed the music during a Tim Burton movie, you’ve enjoyed music by composer Danny Elfman.  He has noise-induced hearing loss from playing in the rock band Oingo Boingo.  When a band reunion was planned, he declined to perform to protect what hearing he has left.

Athletes 

Lance Allred

When Lance signed his first contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he became the first legally deaf player in the history of the NBA. Deaf from birth, Allred wears hearing aids in both ears. Allred is now a motivational speaker.

Derrick Coleman

Derrick Coleman was the first deaf defensive player in the NFL and played on the winning Super Bowl XLVII Seattle Seahawks team. Derrick suffered hearing loss at the age of three, but worked with an audiologist until he graduated from high school.

Celebrities 

Halle Barry

The award-winning actress suffered an 80% hearing loss in one ear as a result of being hit in the head.  While she never disclosed the name of her assailant, she became an advocate for domestic violence.

Rob Lowe

Lowe played a completely deaf character in the movie adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand.  Most people don’t know that he has complete hearing loss in one ear as a result of mumps as a baby.

Leslie Nielsen

Everyone’s favorite Airplane actor was legally deaf.  The Canadian actor was in more than 100 movies and 150 TV shows, and he wore hearing aids most of his life.

Jane Lynch

The Best in Show and Glee actress is deaf in one ear.  It was not diagnosed until she was 7 years old.  Her hearing loss is thought to be a result of childhood illness. 

Lou Ferrigno

Best known as The Incredible Hulk, Ferrigno suffered hearing loss due to a series of ear infections as a child.  He lost 75 – 80% of his hearing.  He has long credited his determination to overcome his disability as reason for his Hollywood success.  To better his hearing and improve his quality of life, he received cochlear implants in 2012.

Hearing loss doesn’t have to slow you down.  If musicians, athletes, and movie stars can achieve their dreams with hearing loss, there is no reason you can’t do the same.