After revealing that he is “going deaf” earlier this week, Mark McGrath fears that his days of singing onstage may be soon over.
The Sugar Ray frontman — best known for hits which swept pop and rock radio alike in the late 1990s as Fly, Someday and Every Morning — shared his concerns on Thursday after years of intense performing, according to The Daily Mail.
“I’m deaf now. I can’t hear any more,” revealed the 51-year-old. “It’s years of being on the road and being two feet in front of symbols and drums.”
Sugar Ray started out as a band heavily influenced by hard rock and the punk movement. For more than three decades now, McGrath has dedicated his life to singing, and within the latter half of that, he’s become a renowned television host.
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McGrath expressed that his career relies heavily on his ability to hear, whether that’s during a live performance, or to efficiently serve as a host or special guest on live television.
“It’s scary because my job is hearing,” he added. “[The future of my career] is absolutely a worry of mine.”
McGrath landed his first recurring role on Extra in 2004. He served as the show’s co-host until 2008, before focusing again on music with Sugar Ray.
Since then, he’s made appearances on a number of other smash-hit shows, including American Idol, Jeopardy, The Office and more recently, Workaholics.
The host added that although a number of specialists have advised him to use “in-ear” hearing aids — to successfully block outside noises and hear himself better while performing — he remains reluctant to try them.
“I’m dumb enough not to use them,” he claimed. “I still need the sight, sounds and smells of a concert, and that includes the auditory part.”
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McGrath reminded the tabloid why he got into music. It was apparently to live the generic rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, according to him.
“It’s funny,” he said. “I got into music and rock ‘n’ roll so I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this. I wanted to party. I’m in a band, that’s just what you do.”
“But life catches up to you and reality happens,” he continued. “You just can’t repair your hearing. Once it goes, it goes. You can only hope to stop the damage.”
Although McGrath’s honesty exposed one of his potentially biggest fears, he continued to joke with the outlet. “No one’s ever coming to hear a high C… like a Mariah Carey show from me, thank God,” he added.
“I’m slowly adding one in-ear at a time and taking efforts,” he confessed, “but [they’re] right, it’s either pay now, or pay later.”
McGrath added that his wife of seven years, Carin Kingsland, has been supporting him and “beating him up” to continue to try and prevent any further damage to his hearing.
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As of this writing, it’s unclear whether Sugar Ray are still working on a previously suggested follow-up to their last studio album, Music for Cougars (2009).
McGrath is scheduled for a number of sporadic U.S. performances until the end of the year, as not only a solo act, but with his supergroup band, Royal Machines, and Sugar Ray.
Dates and ticket details can be found on the official Mark McGrath website.
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