Millie Bobby Brown Shares What Being Partially Deaf Taught Her About Performing

At 13 years old, Millie Bobby Brown is a household name thanks to her character as Eleven in Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” Aside from acting, Brown enjoys singing, she told Variety, adding that hearing herself perform can be a challenge as she is deaf in one ear.

Brown was born with partial loss of hearing, and, after many tubes in her ear, she eventually lost her hearing. Brown can’t fully hear herself perform, but that doesn’t stop her from doing it.

“I just started to sing, and if I sound bad I don’t care, because I’m just doing what I love,” she said. “You don’t have to be good at singing. You don’t have to be good at dancing or acting. If you like to do it, if you genuinely enjoy doing it, then do it. No one should stop you.”

Brown isn’t the only singer with hearing loss. Mandy Harvey, who is completely deaf, competed on America’s Got Talent as a singer. She lost her hearing as a teenager due to a connective tissue disorder, and performs by feeling the vibrations of the music in her feet, Harvey went on to become a finalist on the show.