We all have songs or particular artists who get on our nerves whenever they come on the radio, but nobody can really claim that hearing a particular artist is actually life-threatening, can they? Actually, someone can: Zoe Fennessy of Retford, United Kingdom, who suffers from epileptic seizures whenever she hears a song by R&B singer Ne-Yo. Because of this, she had to undergo an operation.
Fennessy has been suffering from seizures since 2006, and was officially diagnosed with epilepsy in 2008, but in 2011 she suffered from her first "musicogenic seizure" after hearing Pitbull's song "Give Me Everything," which features Ne-Yo.
"It took me a while to realize that they were being triggered by his songs," Fennessy told SWNS, "and I think it wasn't until I had heard it for about the 15th time that it finally twigged what was going on."
"The song was really popular," Fennessy continues, "and I went to my consultant and I said, 'I know this sounds extremely bizarre, but every time I hear this song I have a seizure.'"
Fennessy soon learned that "Give Me Everything" was not the only Ne-Yo song to give her seizures. Rather, the artist's entire catalogue triggers these fits, which typically last for about 15 seconds and induce vomiting.
Though Fennessy's doctors suggested that maybe it was R&B music in general that sent her into fits, it became apparent that Ne-Yo was the only artist to cause this sort of reaction.
"It doesn't happen when I hear Usher, or people like him who have a very similar sound," Fennessy claimed. "It is only him, only Ne-Yo."
Back in June, Fennessy underwent brain surgery to have a section of her left temporal lobe removed, where her seizures were originating from, and though her fits have decreased in intensity, she still suffers seizures whenever she hears a Ne-Yo song.
"I don't dislike Ne-Yo or his music, it just dislikes me, unfortunately," Fennessy said. "I'll be walking around the supermarket doing my food shopping and I have to put my earphones in to listen to my own music just in case it comes on."
You can listen to Pitbull's "Give Me Everything" featuring Ne-Yo here ... at your own risk:
Ne-Yo's upcoming album Non-Fiction was originally set for release yesterday, Nov. 11, but will now be released at some point in 2015. It will be his sixth studio album overall, his first since 2012's R.E.D.
