Linda Ronstadt Has Parkinson's

67-year-old tells AARP she can no longer sing
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 24, 2013 5:42 AM CDT

It looks like Linda Ronstadt's singing days are over. The 67-year-old tells AARP.org that she was diagnosed with Parkinson's 8 months ago, though she now suspects she's had it much longer:

  • “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. And it didn’t occur to me to go to a neurologist. I think I’ve had it for seven or eight years already, because of the symptoms that I’ve had. Then I had a shoulder operation, so I thought that’s why my hands were trembling."
Ronstadt ("You're No Good," "Blue Bayou," "When Will I Be Loved," etc.) is an 11-time Grammy winner, notes E! Online. But "no one can sing with Parkinson's," she says in the AARP interview. "No matter how hard you try." Ronstadt also reveals that she sometimes walks with the aid of poles or uses a wheelchair. No more details are provided about her tick disease, other than Ronstadt saying "my health has never recovered" from the bite she received a while back. (More Linda Ronstadt stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X