SCOTTISH singer Lulu has revealed how she is getting hearing aids to allow her to keep performing despite calling time on the “gruelling” grind of touring.
The 75-year-old spoke to The National about how she noticed her ears ringing almost every night on tour last year and has recently arranged to have both hearing aids and protection so she can keep entertaining fans for as long as she is able.
“I want to hear every note and every whisper,” she said.
“When I’m on stage I want to hear the bass, I want to hear that separated from the guitar and the piano, and the harmonies, and I want to hear myself.
“I know a little bit about sound after all these years, and this [hearing aids] is a major breakthrough for me.”
The Shout singer - who grew up in Glasgow - is in the midst of her final Champagne for Lulu tour which was extended due to demand and, while she said she has had an “incredible” experience playing to the likes of Glastonbury, touring has become too much for her to handle in recent years.
But Lulu has insisted she never wants to stop singing and knew she had to take action with her hearing to ensure she could keep doing what she loved.
“The performing is a delight, it almost energises me, but the travelling and the schedule was gruelling [last year]. I just thought, I’m 75, I’m not doing that again,” she said.
“I will never stop [singing] if I can keep doing it, but I need to do it differently.”
Asked about when she first noticed issues with her hearing, Lulu said: “Probably a year or two ago that I really noticed, and I ignored. I knew I had to address it but didn’t.
“The last tour, that I absolutely loved, my ears were ringing most nights. When you work with a rock n roll band and they’re just flying and you’re in the zone, you’re doing what you know you love to do, it gets louder and louder.
“I’ve heard it said Alzheimer’s and dementia can progress if you can’t hear and I will not be left out, I will not have FOMO [fear of missing out], because I want to hear everything that’s said and I want to hear every note that’s played.”
Having got her eyes tested at Specsavers, Lulu went to the specialists to have her hearing tested and is now encouraging others to “be mindful” of their own hearing and whether it is changing.
She told how 40 years of meditation has taught her to take difficulties she faces in her stride and work out how she can overcome them rather than blame anyone else for her troubles.
The Eurovision winner said she has had to become increasingly disciplined with her voice, vocalising before she goes on stage and not speaking to anyone between midnight and noon.
And although she initially pushed away the problems with her hearing, she knew in the end she had to face it head on.
“It’s an occupational hazard and you have to address all of them [problems that singing can bring],” she said.
“You have to look how you can help yourself. I hurt my voice years ago in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and newspapers said I may never sing again. My doctor said no [that wasn’t true], but I still got a huge lesson. I am very disciplined and that’s why I’m still able to smash it at 75.
“The key to life is finding what your part is in the issue and what you can do to help it. I have been meditating for more than 40 years and I have a very yogic mind.
“No matter how terrible things are, how disappointed one is, you have to accept it and look at how you can help yourself.”
She added: “So be mindful. Do you think your ears are ringing? Do you think you can’t hear like you used to? Then have your ears checked. It’s so quick and when your health is good, there’s more joy in life.”
