It’s a pretty shocking image.  But it’s one that the British charity Action on Hearing Loss is hoping gets the message out to music lovers.  It’s a warning that perhaps I should have heeded.

Chris Martin of Coldplay takes the message seriously.

Martin is one of the campaigns supporters and he’s revealed he suffers from tinnitus, a sometimes painful ringing in the ears, that’s often a sign of hearing loss.  He blames it on listening to loud music as a teenager.  Not to mention standing on stage in front of a powerful stack of amps.

After doctors told him that the condition could end his career, Martin took steps to protect his hearing and he says the ringing in his ears and the headaches have stabilized.

‘Looking after your ears is unfortunately something you don’t think about until there’s a problem. I’ve had tinnitus for about 10 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 we always use moulded filter plugs, or in-ear monitors, to try and protect our ears. You CAN use industrial headphones, but that looks strange at a party.’ – Chris Martin, Coldplay

Good advice, and there’s a long list of rock stars who may wish they had followed it.

This spring doctors told AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson to quit touring or risk the complete loss of hearing.