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Bruce Beacom
Bruce Beacom is an American singer/songwriter, record producer, and multiple Emmy award nominee for his work as a sound mixer on CBS's The Amazing Race who has overcome the loss of 95% of his hearing due to a genetic hearing disease through a series of surgeries and the use of hearing aids.

Biography
Bruce Beacom was born in Baltimore, Maryland to father, Lt. Col. Edward J. Beacom - USAF, and mother Sara W. Beacom in 1970. He grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC where he had an affinity for music at an early age. In 1990, he moved to Los Angeles, CA to attend the California Institute of the Arts where he graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree.

In 1995, Beacom moved to New York where he lived, worked as a live sound and studio engineer, and recorded his first album, "Bebo live in NYC" - A solo acoustic live album recorded over the course of 5 different performances in 1999-2000 at clubs such as The Mercury Lounge, The Living Room, CBGB's, Gallery 313, The Fort at The Sidewalk, and Baby Jupiter. This was also when Beacom began to experience a "horrible and deafening ringing in his ears". He was in his late 20s.

In 2000, Beacom moved to Los Angeles where he performed on the club circuit across Southern California and began to parlay his skill set into work in the sound department on various television shows and projects but had yet to establish himself.

At the start of 2003, Beacom had steady work as a sound mixer on Reality based TV shows such as America's Next Top Model, The Apprentice, Top Chef, The Amazing Race, and much more. Midway through the year Beacom started to record his second album, "Platinum Pennies". In October 2003, proposed to his now wife (Holly) and they got engaged. Unfortunately, it was very shortly after that Beacom's hearing took a very drastic turn for the worse. The ringing in his ears had become so bad that it was no longer possible for him to continue to record "Platinum Pennies", and nearly impossible to continue work as a sound mixer. Beacom's wedding was put on hold as he and his fiancé sought a true diagnosis of his condition in the hopes they could save his hearing. A process which Beacom describes as being a "Frustrating and terrifying experience." By the end of 2003 his condition had worsened to the point that he was 95% deaf and had yet to get a proper diagnosis.

The first to diagnose his condition properly was Dr. Sol Marghzar, a highly knowledgeable doctor of audiology in Culver City. Beacom had come to Dr. Marghzar to get fitted with hearing aids. To which, Dr. Marghzar refused because he strongly believed that Beacom had Otosclerosis - a hereditary condition that causes an abnormal growth of bone in the middle ear that stops structures within the ear from working the way they should. Dr. Marghzar believed that after receiving a highly specialized surgery called a Stapedectomy, Beacom's hearing would greatly improve his hearing and become even better with the use of hearing aids.

Beacom says that upon hearing this from Dr. Marghazar, It was the first time he had begun to feel hope about his situation.

Dr. Marhzar put Beacom in touch with surgeon William H. Slattery, II, M.D. of the House of Ear Clinic in Los Angeles, California who performed four Stapedectomies. While most patients receiving the surgery need only one, Beacom needed four. Over the course of four years Dr. Slattery was able to replace the diseased bone in Beacom's middle ear with prosthetic bones that could effectively pass sound waves to his inner ear restoring his hearing to 60% without the use of hearing aids. With the use of digital hearing aids his hearing has been restored to 80% in both ears.

In 2008, Beacom and Holly were married. In 2009, Beacom completed recording and released "Platinum Pennies" which he describes as a "testament of what it simply means to hear". Just recently, after seven years with the same hearing devices, Bruce was prescribed and professionally fitted with a new pair of digital, wireless-connectivity hearing aids - again, by Dr. Marghzar. According to Bruce, the latest technology is even more life enhancing, allowing him to hear from all directions and in all sorts of sound environments.

Currently living in Los Angeles, Beacom continues to write, play, and produce music while continuing to record and mix audio for reality-TV programs such as CBS's The Amazing Race, The Apprentice, and Bravo's Top Chef.