Carly Simon has revealed she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and skin cancer.
The iconic singer, 83, has been absent from the spotlight for years, and revealed July 27 in a statement first obtained by People that her privacy was partly prompted by her health complications.
“So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing,” Simon said in a statement to The Independent. “The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease.”
She continued: “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.”
Simon went on to say that her health problems first started with arthritis in both of her knees and one hip, explaining, “I eventually had all three joints replaced, out with the old and in with delicate bouquets of metal and plastic. After three replacement surgeries, I assumed my difficulty walking was simply an unfortunate and rather ironic part of the recovery process.”
However, the “You’re So Vain” hitmaker’s mobility only worsened, and she found it increasingly difficult to stand up from chairs and had trouble walking.
She was then evaluated at the Mayo Clinic and diagnosed with Parkinson’s prompting her to start treatment including medication.
Simon said that Parkinson’s, a progressive brain disease, has brought on mental symptoms as well as physical ones.
“It can bring anxiety, depression, exhaustion, and apathy,” she explained. “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 continued: “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.”
As Simon underwent treatment for Parkinson’s, she was also diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, which is a form of skin cancer, on her face.
“The cancer was removed, but the surgery affected my appearance and made me more self-conscious about being seen in public,” she said. “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 said, “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. If a person is allowed to hibernate during both winter and summer, then I have become an all-season bear.”
However, she continued, “But I have not stopped living, and I have not stopped working.”
The singer announced that her new album, Comes in Waves, will be released August 14, marking her first original album in 18 years.
“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,” Simon said. “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.”
