After doctors warned him the tinnitus could end his musical career, he began wearing earplugs at concerts and when he is performing.
He said: ‘Looking after your ears is unfortunately something you don’t think about until there’s a problem.
‘I’ve had tinnitus for about ten years, and since I started protecting my ears it hasn’t got any worse – touch wood.
‘But I wish I’d thought about it earlier.
‘Now [the band] always use moulded filter plugs, or in-ear monitors, to try to protect our ears.
‘You can use industrial headphones, but that looks strange at a party.’
The singer, who was married to Gwyneth Paltrow, makes sure his children, Apple, seven, and Moses, six, are protected from loud music at all times. Apple was pictured wearing giant ear defenders at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park in 2005.
However, Martin isn’t the only famous tinnitus sufferer.
Rapper Plan B has also been stricken by the condition for some time – but initially thought he was just hearing passing trains.
He said: ‘At first I thought it was trains rushing by as I live near a railway line.
‘It’s caused by years of being subjected to loud music.’
Cars hitmaker Gary Numan added that he is no longer able to mix music after damaging his hearing. He said: ‘I didn’t look after my ears and I’m in trouble.’
All three stars are backing a new charity campaign, Action On Hearing Loss, which aims to get more people to wear ear defenders at gigs and clubs. Tinnitus is caused when hair cells in the ears are damaged by exposure to loud noise and cause a whistling, ringing or buzzing sound when there is none. Some sufferers hear a sound constantly, while for others it is intermittent.
Meanwhile, Martin’s ex-wife Gwyneth’s mother Blythe Danner revealed in an interview with the Daily Mail that she used to wear earplugs at Coldplay concerts.
The 69-year-old actress admitted that she never used to like their music and would wear earplugs to block out the loud notes at their shows, but over the years the group have won her over with their songs.
She said: ‘I’m mostly a jazz fan and I’ve never really been into rock ‘n’ roll music – although I guess Coldplay isn’t really rock ‘n’ roll – but he’s made me a convert. ‘I do go to their concerts whenever we’re in the same town and I don’t even have to wear earplugs any more, which I did in the beginning. He wrote the song ‘Fix You’ for Gwyneth when her father died and I weep every time I hear it.’
If you suffer from tinnitus or have any questions about hearing loss or any aspect of hearing contact Hidden Hearing.
Source: the Daily Mail