“You’re So Vain” songwriter Carly Simon reveals Parkinson’s Disease Diagnosis

Legendary singer and songwriter Carly Simon has Parkinson’s disease.

The 83-year-old has opened up about her diagnosis in a statement addressing why she’s been relatively quiet lately.

Explaining, “The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease.”

“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,” she said.

The symptoms started after arthritis led to three joint replacement surgeries, but her mobility failed to improve.

“My family and I knew that something more was going on. After an extensive evaluation at the Mayo Clinic, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” she said.

Simon says she was also self-conscious about being seen in public because she was also being treated for basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer, on her face at the same time, and it had to be removed.

In this time, though, she has been working on new music, something she says has given structure to her days.

“Working on the music gave shape to days that did not always have much shape. 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.”

“Comes in Waves,” her first album of original songs since 2008, will come out August 14.