Linda Ronstadt reveals Parkinson’s disease ended her career
Folk-rock singer Linda Ronstadt revealed she is facing an uphill battle as she loses her voice to Parkinson’s disease.
Struck down with Parkinson’s eight months ago, 11-time Grammy-winner Linda Ronstadt has opened up about the life-changing diagnosis that has ended her career.
Speaking to the AARP in an interview which will be published next week, Linda Ronstadt, who has released more than 30 studio albums over four decades, revealed she first noticed symptoms as early as eight years ago.
Linda Ronstadt, now 67, initially put her shaking hands down to the result of shoulder surgery and believed her inability to sing was due to a tick bite that ravished her system.
“My health has never recovered since then,” she says.
The singer sadly revealed during her candid chat that the disease means she “can’t sing a note” anymore.
Realizing there was a serious problem when her singing voice failed her, the Parkinson’s diagnosis came out of the blue and was hard to comprehend.
“I couldn’t sing and I couldn’t figure out why. I knew it was mechanical. I knew it had to do with the muscles, but I thought it might have also had something to do with the tick disease that I had,” she tells the publication.
Linda Ronstadt revealed she is facing an uphill battle as she loses her voice to Parkinson’s disease
“It didn’t occur to me to go to a neurologist.”
“Parkinson’s is very hard to diagnose, so when I finally went to a neurologist and he said, <<Oh, you have Parkinson’s disease>>, I was completely shocked. I wouldn’t have suspected that in a million, billion years.”
Adding that “No-one can sing with Parkinson’s disease, no matter how hard you try,” it soon became apparent that the star’s illustrious career was over.
No longer fully in control of her faculties, Linda Ronstadt is forced to walk with the assistance of poles at times and is wheelchair-bound when she travels.
Most well known for hit songs You’re No Good and When Will I Be Loved, Linda Ronstadt was also notably engaged to Star Wars creator George Lucas in the 1980s.
While she never married, Linda Ronstadt adopted daughter Mary in 1990 and son Carlos in 1994 as infants.
Linda Ronstadt’s new autobiography, Simple Dreams, will be released on September 17, however, it doesn’t deal with her Parkinson’s diagnosis and subsequent loss of voice.
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