R&B singer Tank shocked his fans on Wednesday when he uploaded an Instagram video in which he revealed that he is going deaf.
“I’m going completely deaf in my right ear and I’m kinda losing sound in my left,” the 45-year-old said. “All of this out of nowhere, don’t know how or why.”
The artist, who said he has been experiencing dizziness and difficulty in walking a straight line, also expressed optimism.
“It still hasn’t given me a reason to give up. It still hasn’t given me a reason to stop feeling like I can do and be everything that I’ve set out to be," he said. "The goals are still the same, to be great, to be the greatest.”
The "Please Don't Go" singer plans to use the challenge as an opportunity to inspire others.
“No matter what you’re going through, no matter where you find yourself, whether your body’s failing you, whether your mind is failing you, whether your spirit is failing you, keep going, keep pushing,” he said. “I'm gonna document my process just to show you the fight, just to show you that you’re still in it. We’re still in it."
It was not only dozens of fans who commented with words of encouragement on Instagram, but also Tank's wife, Zena Foster.
“I love you babe and don’t worry I can talk louder,” she wrote.
Others vowed to pray for the musician and encouraged him to keep his head up.
"Prayers up king….stay strong and stay positive….Love u champ," comedian Kevin Hart wrote.
Some also shared their own difficulties with their health.
"I was at the ENT last week, my hearing is good, but my equilibrium was off, dizziness, head, ear, right nostril and neck hurting…doctors keep saying no ear infection…my ears seemed clogged all because I needed a sinus rinse and I have to use a nasal steroid twice daily to keep the headaches away," one person wrote.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, about 15% of American adults report some trouble hearing. Among adults between the ages of 20 and 69, men are almost twice as likely as women to have hearing loss, the data reveals.
