Huey Lewis Talks About His Two Career Mistakes In The ’80s

Huey Lewis and The News, live in 2017 - erock2229 / Youtube

Huey Lewis disclosed some of the biggest mistakes he made in his career in the ’80s: Rejecting a juicy sponsorship deal and refusing to record a song Bob Dylan sent him.

The singer-songwriter recalled points in his career at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, being interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel and reported by Billboard. Lewis said that after Michael Jackson signed onto a $50 million deal with beverage giant Pepsi, its rival company tried to get to him. โ€œCoca-Cola asked to have a meeting [so] we flew to Atlanta. They offered us millions of dollars [to use] โ€˜The Heart of Rock & Rollโ€™ in a commercial. I said no. Stupid,โ€ Lewis shared.

He also shared that he met Bob Dylan during the recording of the charity single “We Are The World”ย back in ’85. Lewis sang a line in the song intended for Prince, who didn’t show up. Later on, Dylan sent him a song and suggested he use it, but Lewis declined. โ€œI should have cut it. I donโ€™t know what I was thinking,โ€ Lewis exclaimed.

Lewis is currently afflicted with a hearing impairment which makes future performances impossible to do. He also shared how his father was supportive of his career in music but reminded him to take care. โ€œHe told me to keep playing the harmonica. He said, โ€˜They canโ€™t take that away from you. This Huey Lewis and the News shit could be here today, gone tomorrow,โ€ he recalled.

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