Carly Simon has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, treated for
skin cancer
[July 28, 2026]
By MARIA SHERMAN
NEW YORK (AP) — Singer Carly Simon has been diagnosed with Parkinson's
disease and was recently treated for skin cancer, the singer shared in a
statement provided to The Associated Press.
“So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative
silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing. The truth is, I’ve
been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease,” Simon's statement
on Monday read.
The singer, 83, had been experiencing arthritis in one of her hips and
both her knees, resulting in replacement surgeries for those three
joints. But her mobility continued to decline. At times, she said, she
could not walk without “considerable help.”
“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.
“It has taken me some time to understand the diagnosis, to adjust to it,
and to decide how much I wanted to say about it publicly,” she
explained. “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.”
Parkinson’s is a neurologic disease that robs people of control over
their movements. It typically starts with tremors and is characterized
by slow movement, a shuffling gait, stiff limbs, balance problems and
slurred speech.
About 1 million Americans are living with Parkinson’s, and 10 million
people worldwide, the Parkinson’s Foundation estimates. It usually
appears after age 60, though it sometimes develops before age 50.
The exact cause isn’t known, but Parkinson’s develops when cells that
produce one of the brain’s chemical messengers — dopamine — begin to
deteriorate and die.
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Carly Simon performs during the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival in New
York on April 19, 2017. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
 There is no cure, but there are
treatments including medications that affect dopamine levels and a
surgically implanted tremor-blocking device. Patients also can
benefit from physical and occupational therapy.
“I began treatment, including taking medication to help with
stiffness and other symptoms,” Simon said. “There is no tidy or
predictable schedule to the illness. It does not consult my calendar
before deciding what kind of day I am going to have.”
She also shared that she was treated for basal cell carcinoma, a
common form of skin cancer, on her face at the same time. She had
surgery, and the cancer was removed, “but the surgery affected my
appearance and made me more self-conscious about being seen in
public,” she said.
She said music has been a salve, and on Aug. 14, she will release
“Comes in Waves,” her first album of original songs since 2008.
“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,” she continued. “It reminded me that illness can change your
life without becoming the whole of your life.”
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