You’re So Vain singer Carly Simon has revealed her secret battle with Parkinson’s disease.
“So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing,” the 83-year-old said in a statement to Page Six on Monday.
“The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease.”
She then went on to explain that it took her some time to “understand the diagnosis, to adjust to it, and to decide how much I wanted to say about it publicly.”
“Parkinson’s is different for everyone, and it can be unpredictable,” she shared.
“Some days I’m so tired I can’t get the day moving at all. On others, it gives me a little more room to move, think, work, and feel like myself.”
The singer shared that her health problems began following her three joint replacement surgeries due to arthritis. During recovery she began to have mobility issues.
“I had trouble standing up from low chairs and deep couches without someone offering me an arm,” she explained, adding that there were moments where she couldn’t walk without help.
She then underwent “an extensive evaluation” at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
“There is no tidy or predictable schedule to the illness. It does not consult my calendar before deciding what kind of day I am going to have,” she said.
The singer also revealed she had surgery on her face for basal cell carcinoma, which made her self-conscious about her appearance.
“Between my mobility issues, the Parkinson’s diagnosis, the surgery, and the emotional effects of it all, withdrawing from public view was the most palatable reaction,” she told the publication.
“I do not consider Parkinson’s a gift or a blessing. It is neither. It is difficult, frustrating, and sometimes frightening. I am still learning how to live with it and how to accept it without feeling that I have surrendered something essential.”
Despite her health battles, the singer continues to make music, with her new album, Comes in Waves, set for release on August 14.
“Working on the music gave shape to days that did not always have much shape. It gave me somewhere to go without having to leave the room,” she said.
“It reminded me that illness can change your life without becoming the whole of your life.”
The singer ended her statement by acknowledging that while she now “moves more slowly” and “leans on others more” she is still here.
“I have learned to accept that every day will look a little different. But I am still very much here.”
Simon has two children, daughter Sally, 52, and son Ben, 49, with her ex-husband and music legend James Taylor.
Image: Arthur D’Amario III / Shutterstock.com
