Famous People with Tinnitus-Part 1

Celebrities & Musicians with Tinnitus:

Neil Young - (loud music) main reason for his "acoustic" music during early 90's

Barbra Streisand - "Streisand has ascribed her volatile temperament to the tinnitus from which she has suffered since she was seven." source: news.independent.co.uk

Pete Townshend - "I have severe hearing damage. It's manifested itself as tinnitus, ringing in the ears at frequencies that I play guitar. It hurts, it's painful, and it's frustrating." Townshend is completely deaf in one ear from an explosion when Keith Moon blew up his drum set live on stage in the early 1960's and loud amps. He has tinnitus, resulting partly from the band's live gigs but mainly the deafening volume in which he and Entwistle used to listen to playbacks over the studio "cans." There are reports saying that he is unable even to hear his phone ring. The Sun newspaper reported Townshend said his hearing got worse after the band's recent US tour. Quote from Pete: "The recent return to touring and to me playing electric guitar - albeit more quietly than in the 1970s - led to further deterioration of my hearing," the 57-year-old said. "My right ear, which encounters my own edgy guitar and the machine gun strokes of the drums, has suffered badly. Luckily for me, I still have my left ear, which seems to be less @#%$ up. When I've worked solo in the past five years I've not used drums. This has meant I could play more quietly I think. With The Who, there is of course no way to play the old songs without drums. I've no idea what I can do about this. I am unable to perform with in-ear monitors. In fact, they increase the often unbearable tinnitus I suffer after shows." source from Sky News John Entwhistle - According to Who scholar Andy Neill, Entwhistle was pretty deaf, and tended to rely on lip-reading. He didn't have tinnitus but still played bass at his usual "everything on 11" volume.

William Shatner - stage/prop explosion on set of StarTrek (during mid 1960's)

Leonard Nimoy - stage/prop explosion on set of StarTrek (during mid 1960's)

David Letterman - T in one ear, has had T a long time: Dave mentioned that he too had ringing in his ears, and has had it for a long time to William Shatner Paul Schaffer - "He's got that?! I've got that!" on Billy Bob Thornton's character with Tinnitus in 'BANDITS'

Bill Clinton? - (wears hearing aid) T probably?

Tony Randall

Engelbert Humperdinck

Rosalynn Carter

Steve Martin - musician (banjo player), actor, comedian. He acquired Tinnitus while filming a pistol-shooting scene in "¡Three Amigos!" in 1986. "You just get used to it."

Leslie Nielsen - actor in such movie spoofs as "Police Squad!", "Airplane!", "The Naked Gun" series

Mark O. Hatfield

Ronald Reagan