Stephen Gilchrist Glover, aka Steve-O, is well-known for his appearance on the TV and movie series Jackass. Throughout the years, Steve-O has performed some wild and dangerous stunts including snorting wasabi, walking a tightrope across an alligator pond, playing tetherball using a beehive, and other outrageous activities.
One of the most distinct qualities Steve-O has is his gravelly voice, which he didn’t always have. Initially, Steve-O attributed his voice change to drug use, but he later learned that wasn’t the case at all.
With the amount of crazy stunts Steve-O has done over the years, he sustained many injuries as a result. At the height of his career, his family grew concerned about his health and lifestyle. He told them that he’d undergo an executive medical check-up to appease them, and if the results showed that he was healthy, he wanted them to stop badgering him about his lifestyle.
When the results came back, he discovered that he had a condition called Barrett’s esophagus, which is the thickening of the esophagus lining. He goes for routine checkups to monitor his condition. However, it has nothing to do with the change in his voice.
The reason for his gravelly voice
A few years ago, Steve-O uploaded a video on his YouTube channel titled “Why My Voice Is So Messed Up.” In it, he featured some clips from his younger years to show how much his voice has changed. Steve-O said he thought it was because of his prior heavy drug use, barfing so much, smoking, drinking, firebreathing, and even chewing and swallowing glass.
Steve-O also revealed that he felt insecure about his voice, but a friend told him that it was his trademark. In 2008, his Jackass co-star, Johnny Knoxville, staged an intervention to help Steve-O get his life back on the right track. He’s been sober since then and started living a healthier lifestyle, but his voice didn’t go back to how it used to sound. In fact, he noticed it got worse.
He finally decided to consult a specialist to find out the reason why his voice had changed so much over the years. Steve-O visited otolaryngologist Dr. Randy Schnitman, whom he described as the “voice doctor to the stars.” The doctor inspected his throat with a scope, and according to his findings, Steve-O doesn’t use his vocal cords properly when he talks, which is why his voice turned gravelly. “After everything I’ve been through, you’re telling me I just suck at talking?” Steve-O said.
The doctor referred Steve-O to a voice coach, so he could train to speak using his vocal cords instead of his throat muscles. In a short clip, Steve-O was seen working with his voice coach, and he was able to speak how he used to, but with a bit of effort. However, he realized that he didn’t really want his voice to return back to normal, as it has become part of his identity. “I kind of like getting recognized over the phone — and my girl darn sure doesn’t want anything different,” he said in the video.