The 75-year-old rocker says years of exposure to loud music have left him with ringing in his ears and pulsatile tinnitus, which, according to the Cleveland Clinic, "creates a thumping or swooshing noise in your head" and "the noise seems to keep time with your heartbeat".
"I'll probably be totally deaf by the time the tour's over. I wear earplugs and stuff, but I do not ever, will I ever get hearing aids," he said on the latest episode of the Nepo, Baby! podcast.
Mellencamp's dislike of hearing aids stems from his grandmother.
"She said, 'John, don't ever get hearing aids because once you get them, you can't live without them.' She said, 'If you think chasing around a pair of glasses is a drag, wait till you start chasing around a pair of glasses and some hearing aids," he said.
Mellencamp also revealed he dislikes eating out in restaurants because he "can't hear".
"I mean, it's like right now my ears are ringing like crazy, and I have pulsatile tinnitus, which is, I hear my heartbeat.
"And we go into a restaurant, and it's just like, 'Well, I'm out,' because I can't hear anything because I hear all this noise and stuff," he said.
"I'm sure people don't want to keep [repeating things] in my face … so just add tinnitus on top of that, and it's impossible."
The Hurts So Good star finished his 19-date, US Dancing Words Tour in August and insists his hearing difficulties won't stop him performing..
Mellencamp isn't the only veteran rocker to struggle with hearing loss.
In July, AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson, 79, revealed he didn't damage his hearing through years of performing loud shows, but that it was actually a bout of flu contracted during the band's 2016 tour that left him struggling.
The Thunderstruck hitmaker has to use a new piece of equipment called an ADEL (Ambrose Diaphonic Ear Lens) attached to his in-ear monitors so he can sing with the group.
USA Today reported in July that Johnson's hearing loss was attributed to a bout of flu during the band's 2016 Rock or Bust Tour, rather than decades of performing.
"We were in Winnipeg or somewhere like that and it was cold and wet and you're sweating. But it's freezing, and you have to quick, hurry up, get on the plane, and we took off, and my ears got so crystallised, and the rest was just nasty," Johnson told USA Today.
"But anyway, I'm a happy ending."
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