Singer-songwriter Carly Simon, best known for her 1970s hits including “You’re So Vain” and “Nobody Does It Better,” has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
In a statement to fans released on Monday, the 83-year-old Grammy-winning artist offered an explanation for her reduced public appearances in recent years and what led to the diagnosis.
“So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing,” she began. “The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease.”
Simon decided to speak publicly about her health struggles, as the disease brought significant changes to her daily life. It began with worsening arthritis and a decreased mobility, despite having undergone knee and hip replacement surgeries.
“I had trouble standing up from low chairs and deep couches without someone offering me an arm,” she said in the statement. “Overstuffed furniture became my enemy. Once seated, I could feel as though I had been swallowed by the chair and might remain there permanently, like a guest who had badly overstayed her welcome.”
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that gradually affects movement by damaging nerve cells in the brain and worsens over time.
“I began treatment, including taking medication to help with stiffness and other symptoms,” she said. “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.”
At around the same time as her Parkinson’s diagnosis, Simon received treatment for basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer.
She underwent surgery to remove the cancer from her face, but noted that the procedure affected her confidence and made her “self-conscious” about appearing in public, a factor that contributed to her extended absence from the spotlight.
“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 said. “If a person is allowed to hibernate during both winter and summer, then I have become an all-season bear.”
Simon rose to prominence in the early 1970s with her acclaimed hits “You’re So Vain,” “Anticipation,” and “Nobody Does It Better,” theme song for the 1977 James Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me.”
With a career spanning more than five decades, Simon earned two Grammy award wins, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and in 2022 an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Despite her health setbacks, she has continued writing and recording and next month is preparing to release “Comes in Waves,” her first original full-length album in nearly 20 years.
“Working on the music gave shape to days that did not always have much shape,” she said of the album. “It gave me somewhere to go without having to leave the room. It reminded me that illness can change your life without becoming the whole of your life.”
