Singer-songwriter Huey Lewis, the frontman for Huey Lewis and the News, is set to star in a new Fox series titled Whatever Happened to Huey Lewis? that will portray a fictionalized version of Lewis’ personal struggles, including his well-publicized hearing loss.

Many audiologists will remember Lewis’ speech when he was the keynote at the 2001 American Academy of Audiology (AAA) Convention. There he recounted how he experienced sudden hearing loss while duck hunting, and he was subsequently diagnosed with Méniére’s disease. After a four-decade run, he announced in 2018 that he was canceling live performances because “he couldn’t hear well enough to sing.”

According to Deadline, Whatever Happened to Huey Lewis? will be a single-camera, lighthearted, half-hour mockumentary in the style of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, featuring “his codependent family and eccentric celebrity friends.” Lewis’ long-time friend and fly-fishing buddy Jimmy Kimmel will co-produce the series, and Kirker Butler, the creator of Only Murders in the Building, will write and serve as its executive producer alongside Lewis.

Lewis’ musical, The Heart of Rock and Roll, ran on Broadway from April 22 to June 23, and he had previously appeared in the Broadway musical Chicago. He has also acted in numerous roles, including Short Cuts and Duets, and he has acted in recurring roles in The Cleveland Show and Just Shoot Me.

Huey Lewis and the News rose to fame in the early 1980s with songs like “The Power of Love,” which was featured in the film Back to the Future, “I Want a New Drug,” “Stuck with You,” and “Hip to be Square,” among others. Several of the band’s albums were nominated for Grammy Awards, and all five albums released between 1982-1991 were certified as Gold, Platinum, or Multi-platinum. They have sold of 30 million records.

Lewis is 74. In February 2020, he and his band released their 10th original studio album “Weather.”

Sources: Deadline, Billboard, THEWRAP

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  • Karl Strom

    Editor in Chief

    Karl Strom is the editor-in-chief of HearingTracker. He was a founding editor of The Hearing Review and has covered the hearing aid industry for over 30 years.