Partridge Family star David Cassidy suffering from dementia

Former The Partridge Family star David Cassidy has announced he is suffering from dementia after fans expressed concerns about his health following a performance in California where he stumbled and appeared to forget lyrics.

"I was in denial, but a part of me always knew this was coming," the 66-year-old singer and actor told People magazine. "I want to focus on what I am, who I am and how I've been, without any distractions. I want to love. I want to enjoy life."

His grandfather and mother had both battled the disease, he added, saying: "In the end, the only way I knew [my mother] recognised me is with one single tear that would drop from her eye every time I walked into the room… I feared I would end up that way."

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Cassidy’s publicist said his comments were accurate but gave no further details, reports The Guardian.

The singer is most famous for his role as Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical sitcom The Partridge Family, where his good looks and singing ability led him to a become a teenage heart-throb, with hits including I Think I Love You and Cherish.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"108409","attributes":{"class":"media-image","style":"font-size: 0.8125em;"}}]]

He went on to appear in several stage shows and played an ageing former teen heart-throb in the short-lived 2009 TV comedy Ruby & the Rockits, before appearing on Celebrity Apprentice in the US in 2011.

However, between 2011 and 2013, Cassidy was arrested for a series of drink-driving incidents before being admitted to rehab for alcohol problems.

He "seemed in a better place recently after a difficult period which included divorcing his third wife Sue Shifrin", says the Daily Mirror.