Carly Simon has revealed to fans that she’s been battling a pair of health issues lately, with the 81-year-old “Nobody Does It Better” singer vowing that despite the daily difficulties of her dual diagnosis, she is “still very much here.”
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In a statement shared with Billboard on Monday morning (July 27), Simon acknowledged that she’s gotten a number of letters lately asking about her “relative silence” and what she’s been up to. “The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease,” she wrote. “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.”
The singer said her issues began with arthritis in both knees and one hip, but after getting all three joints replaced, she figured her continued difficulty walking was part of the recovery process. As her mobility continued to deteriorate and she had trouble standing up from chairs and walking without assistance, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the Mayo Clinic.
Parkinson’s is a progressive brain disorder with symptoms including tremors, slowness in movement, limb stiffness and balance issues, as well as some non-motor symptoms including depression, anxiety, apathy, hallucinations and sleep disorders. An estimated 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with Parkinson’s, with nearly 90,000 people diagnosed with the disorder every year.
Simon said she began treatment, including taking medication, to help with joint stiffness and other unspecified symptoms. “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,” Simon wrote. “Parkinson’s is usually associated with movement, tremors, and balance, but it can affect much more than the body. 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.”
She added that during the same unspecified period in which she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, which has no cure, she was also treated for basal cell carcinoma on her face. And though the cancer was removed, the surgery affected her appearance and made her more self-conscious about being seen in public. “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.’),” she wrote. ” And this gave my inner critic quite a lot of new material.”
Between the Parkinson’s diagnosis, the cancer surgery and the emotional fallout, Simon said shrinking from public view was the “most palatable reaction. If a person is allowed to hibernate during both winter and summer, then I have become an all-season bear.”
The good news for Simon’s fans is that she has not stopped working, with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer also revealing that she began recording a new album titled Comes in Waves. “That still feels mysterious to me. Music has always known when to arrive,” Simon said. “It has rescued me more times that I can count. It is like a cat or dog that quietly appears beside you when it senses you are not quite yourself. The album includes songs and fragments of songs that had been waiting for me, some for years. There were melodies, verses, and ideas written down and tucked away for some unknown future when I would have the time and attention to finish them. Apparently, that future is now.”
Simon released her 23rd studio album, Never Been Gone, in 2009, packaging two new songs (“Songbird,” “No Freedom”), with acoustic versions of her beloved hits; her most recent album of all-new material was 2008’s This Kind of Love. She said working on the new album helped give “shape” to often shapeless days and reminded her that “illness can change your life without becoming the whole of your life.”
Saying she doesn’t consider Parkinson’s a gift or a blessing, Simon confessed that it can be difficult, frustrating and sometimes frightening as she learns how to live with with the disorder while trying to feel like she’s not giving up an essential part of herself. “I am still writing, singing, imagining, laughing, worrying, remembering, and occasionally getting trapped in an overstuffed chair,” she said, thanking her children, family, friends and medical team for their help and support.
“I wanted to share this now because so many people have reached out with genuine concern. I am touched by that concern, even when I have not known how to respond,” she concluded. “These days I move more slowly, I lean on others more than I once did, and I have learned to accept that every day will look a little different. But I am still very much here.”
The 12-track Comes in Waves, which was primarily written and recorded at Simon’s Martha’s Vineyard home, is due out on Aug. 14. In addition to late rapper and friend John Forté, the album features appearances from the singer’s son, Ben Taylor, and daughter, Sally Taylor, who painted the album’s cover and contributes vocals to the project. A second single from the LP, “Peaches,” is due out on Friday (July 31).
