Music legend Gary Numan issues heartbreaking career update 'Finished'

Music icon Gary Numan has admitted he may be forced to retire before he is ready to due to an ongoing health issue which is affecting his ability to perform. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, the 67-year-old father of three admitted he actually thought his career was over just days before his highly acclaimed Glastonbury debut last month. Despite appearing to be at the peak of his powers on stage behind the scenes he was in turmoil. In fact, Gary confesses he thought his career was over after performing a warm-up gig for the iconic festival just days earlier where he realised his hearing was severely impacted. "It was a nightmare,” he admits. “We got through it, but it wasn't fun at all. I didn't enjoy it. I thought my career was finished.”

Although despondent Gary spent the hours after the gig working on a system which would allow him to comfortably get thorough shows and his second warm up was far better. “By the time I got to Glastonbury I didn't even worry about it. I didn't have to think about it again until the next day, which was great,” he said.

However, his hearing issue is not simply going to go away. It’s not a recent issue but it’s starting to impact his performances.

“It is something that will probably get worse over time,” he admits. “Whether it gets so bad that it stops my career before I'm ready to…” he trails off. “You know, quite possibly, sadly (it could), but it might not.”

“I wear hearing aids all the time which is how we can speak,” he says. “Without these, I would be really struggling to hear what you're saying. I can't have conversations without getting people to repeat everything. So, I have a serious problem, which doesn't seem to be degrading that quickly, but it's not going to get better. It's only going to get worse over time.

“The problem I'm having on stage is that… it's as if the music is mumbling…The most difficult thing is that as the chords change, the bass line is banging away down the bottom, and I can't hear what notes they're playing. So when I go to sing, I don't know where I'm pitching to.

“Some of the songs I've done so many times, you just do it automatically – the older songs like Cars. I could hit the right note for that. But most of it isn't like that. You need to hear it and I've been struggling with that really, really badly.”

He adds: “We're good now for a while but it's definitely a problem, and it is something that will probably get worse over time. If I can get another two or three years out of it, then I'll probably be okay.”

Ironically, this issue has reared it's head just as he releases an album that brings his career full circle. A Perfect Circle isn’t just the name of the record - it's been the narrative for electric pop pioneer’s turbulent relationship with fame across 45 years. Having walked away from superstardom at the height of his fame in April 1981 aged just 23 – after performing three extravagant, no-expense-spared retirement shows at Wembley – he returned to headline the venue in 2022 having rebuilt his career from scratch.

“It's such a lovely record to have of what for me is a very important story,” he says. “Most of my adult life has been spent trying to get back to Wembley, having got there so easily it seemed at the beginning. In a way this album is sort of a testament to that determination and just graft, really. If it hadn't been filmed and recorded, I'd be devastated. It's such an important moment for me to be able to release it.”

A Perfect Circle: Live is out now on triple-vinyl with a gatefold sleeve, as a 2CD and Blu-ray set, and on digital/streaming