Huey Lewis made a rare appearance at the Chita Rivera event in New York City on Monday.
The 73-year-old singer looked dapper with his spectacles and a fuzzy gray beard.
He also posed with Lorin Latarro, 46, a Broadway director and choreographer whose work is featured at The Metropolitan Opera.
The San Francisco resident was a major figure in the 1980s, known for hit songs like “Hip To Be Square” and “The Power Of Love.”
In 2020, he opened up about the hearing loss that forced him to stop performing publicly in 2018.
Huey was diagnosed that year with Meniere’s disease, an incurable inner-ear disorder.
“I laid in bed. I had terrible thoughts. I contemplated my own demise,” he revealed to People about his reaction to the diagnosis.
Huey Lewis made a rare appearance at the Chita Rivera event in New York City on Monday. The singer looked dashing with his spectacles and a fuzzy gray beard.
Pictured on the left in 1988 during a performance in Chicago, and on the right this past Monday.
Huey Lewis & The News performed on Saturday Night Live in January 1984.
Rock legend Huey Lewis signs autographs outside of Craig’s.
During his lowest point, Huey Lewis sought support from his children, Kelly and Austin, whom he shares with his ex-wife Sidney Conroy.
“I talked to my kids and my family. That helps,” Huey told the magazine.
“After a couple months, it turns out you can get used to pretty much anything. I started to think about people who are less fortunate than I am. I mean, I don’t have cancer. And I have all this wonderful support from fans.”
His hearing loss first struck backstage at a Dallas concert in January 2018, when an intensely loud noise suddenly sounded in his ear.
The noise, which was “like a jet engine or something,” was inaudible to his band, so “I knew something was wrong.”
He continued to perform but found that “I couldn’t sing or find pitch. It was the worst hour and a half of my life.”
Huey was subsequently diagnosed with Meniere’s disease, which has the possibility of going into remission, though none of the treatments he has tried have been successful.
The singer also posed with Lorin Latarro, 46, a Broadway director and choreographer known for her work at The Metropolitan Opera.
The San Francisco native was a major star in the 1980s, with hit songs like “Hip To Be Square” and “The Power Of Love”; pictured far right is a friend.
In 2020, he openly discussed the struggle with hearing loss that led him to stop performing publicly in 2018. Huey received a diagnosis of Meniere’s disease that year, an incurable inner-ear disorder. “I laid in bed. I had terrible thoughts. I contemplated my own demise,” he revealed to People about his reaction to the diagnosis.
“With my hearing aids, I can hear speech fine. Music is not so easy,” he shared a few months after his diagnosis, which led to the cancellation of all his 2018 gigs.
However, he did spontaneously perform in October 2018 during a Pro-Am golf tournament post-match concert in Scotland. He caught a bit of the band’s warm-up and realized, “Oh my gosh, I can kind of hear pitch!” Filled with hope, he sang “Hip To Be Square” with them during their gig.
Huey’s hearing promptly deteriorated in the next two days, and he “couldn’t hear anything for two weeks” after that.
“Normally music is fun. You get in the middle of a song, and it just sings itself. You ride that wave. Now I have to struggle just to hear pitch,” he shared.
Huey and News released a new album in 2020 titled “Weathers,” featuring seven songs recorded before the onset of his illness; the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is visible in the background.
“I love the outdoors. I exercise, stay healthy, eat well,” said Huey, who grew up in Marin County, California, and resides on a ranch in Montana. He has experimented with essential oils, acupuncture, and various diets to manage his illness.
Huey and News are set to release another album on Valentine’s Day titled “Weathers,” featuring seven songs recorded before his illness took hold.
“I waited, hoping to regain my ability to sing, but unfortunately, it hasn’t happened. So we decided to share these songs with our fans,” he explained.
