KISS star Paul Stanley has revealed he was born deaf in one ear. The rocker appeared on syndicated U.S. medical show The Doctors on Thursday (14Apr11) and urged teenage music fans to wear ear-plugs when attending concerts and turn down the volume when using earphones - and then explained why he is so passionate about aural health.

The Crazy Crazy Nights hitmaker explained he was born without an ear canal in his right ear - and for much of his life he couldn't hear anything on his right side at all.

He revealed, "There's no ear canal, so there's no way for the sound to go into the ear. I now have a bone conduction device, which makes it possible to hear. It's a little strange for me, but it makes me acutely aware of what some people are doing when they go to concerts or listen to music with headphones."

Stanley then urged parents and young viewers to take better care of teenage ears, insisting kids have to wear ear-plugs at concerts. He explained, "Anything over 85 decibels can cause hearing loss; a rock concert is usually at least 105 decibels. You can't be around that for more than four minutes, I believe, without the danger of having hearing loss."

Stanley has teamed-up with the non-profit House Research Institute on a major initiative called It's How You Listen That Counts to educate millions of teens around the world on preventing noise-induced hearing loss. And he hopes that a warning from a rock star will have more of an impact than one from a doctor: "If you don't listen to somebody in a white coat, listen to somebody in black leather." (KL/WNV/CL)

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