Hey all!
I have always had a suspicion that what Rush is describing as his auto-immune system attacking himwas caused by his drug addiction, which started with pain relievers for a back injury.
Whatever caused it, his inability to hear the tone and inflections in his voice have radically changed the way he sounds.
Over the last few years his voice has gotten more monotone, acquired a gravelly sound and he shouts way more than he used to.
I have heard audio of what a cochlear implant sounds like and although it is a miracle of science it sounds like a machine speaking and the wearer is unable to distinguish tones. Rush has often said that the only music he can “hear” are songs that he knew before he lost his hearing because his memory reconstructs the melody for him. On newer music he can only sense the rhythm.