New York (AFP) – American singer Carly Simon, known for hits like “You’re So Vain,” revealed on Monday that she has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The 83-year-old confessional lyricist said in a statement that she had “been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease” and that she had also been treated for skin cancer.
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects the body’s motor system, often causing shaking and other difficulties in movement. Worldwide, about 10 million people have the illness, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation.
“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,” Simon wrote. “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.”
The problems began with arthritis in both knees and one hip. I eventually had all three joints replaced, out with the old and in with delicate bouquets of metal and plastic. After three replacement surgeries, she said, “I assumed my difficulty walking was simply an unfortunate and rather ironic part of the recovery process.”
The celebrated singer-songwriter said she had found sanctuary in music, and that during that period she even began recording a new album, “Comes in Waves,” her first new collection of original tracks since 2008, to be released on August 14.
Simon said that at the same time as her Parkinson’s diagnosis, she was treated for a facial basal cell carcinoma. “The cancer was removed, but the surgery affected my appearance and made me more self-conscious about being seen in public,” she said in a heartfelt statement. “I have always been more critical of my appearance than anyone else could possibly imagine (check out the irony of having written ‘You’re So Vain’), and this gave my inner critic quite a lot of new material.”
Simon began singing with her sister in the 1960s. She rose to global stardom with her 1972 album “No Secrets,” which spawned the number one smash “You’re So Vain.” In 1977 she sang “Nobody Does it Better,” the popular James Bond theme song from “The Spy Who Loved Me.”
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