LEARNING TO LIVE

Music Legend, 83, Reveals Devastating Diagnosis

She was asked about her reduced public presence.

Singer-songwriter Carly Simon has Parkinson’s disease.

The “You’re So Vain” icon made the announcement Monday, saying, “It has taken me some time to understand the diagnosis, to adjust to it and to decide how much I wanted to say about it.”

She added that she was still learning to live with the condition, “without feeling that I have surrendered something essential.”

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“So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing.

“The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease,” she said.

“It has taken me 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. 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.”

It is not known at the time of writing when she received her diagnosis, but she did say it had started with health problems like arthritis in her hip and knees.

“But my mobility continued to worsen. I had trouble standing up from low chairs and deep couches without someone offering me an arm,” Simon said.

Eventually, she said she needed “considerable help” at times to walk.

“My family and I knew that something more was going on. After an extensive evaluation at the Mayo Clinic, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” the “Let the River Run” singer added.

“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.”

“I do not consider Parkinson’s a gift or a blessing. It is neither. It is difficult, frustrating, and sometimes frightening,” she said. “I am still learning how to live with it and how to accept it without feeling that I have surrendered something essential.”

In the statement, obtained by several outlets including People, she said she had undergone treatment for cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer.

“Parkinson’s is usually associated with movement, tremors, and balance, but it can affect much more than the body,” she added. “It can bring anxiety, depression, exhaustion, and apathy. The apathy is particularly strange. You can find yourself lying there like a starfish drying in the sun, arms pointing in all directions, while nothing inside is telling you to get up, read, watch, write, sing, call someone, or do much of anything at all.

“That has been one of the hardest things to explain. It is not simply sadness or laziness. It is as though the part of the brain that sends out invitations to participate in life has temporarily misplaced the guest list.”

The Martha’s Vineyard resident has two children with her ex-husband, musician James Taylor: Sally, 52, and Ben, 49.

In 2022, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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Harry ThompsonNews Reporter

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