Linda Ronstadt Reveals Struggle with Parkinson's

Linda Ronstadt Reveals Struggle with Parkinson's

Singer Linda Ronstadt has revealed that she has Parkinson's disease, which has consequentially dramatically affected her singing career.

The "You're No Good" singer divulged the news to the AARP on Friday, confessing that she "can't sing a note" because of the degenerative neurological disorder.

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Ronstadt says she began showing the symptoms of Parkinson's up to eight years ago but was only recently diagnosed with the disease in January.

"I couldn't sing and I couldn't figure out why," the 67-year-old rock/pop singer told the AARP. "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. 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."

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The 11-time Grammy-winning, multiplatinum artist then stated the ramifications of her disease on the future of her singing career.

"No one can sing with Parkinson's disease," Ronstadt said. "No matter how hard you try."


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