Ronstadt’s lost voice

After 40 years in the music business, Linda Ronstadt has stopped singing, said Sam Tanenhaus in The New York Times. “I can’t do it because of my health,” says the 67-year-old. “I have Parkinson’s.” She holds out a trembling hand. “I can’t sing at all. I can’t sing ‘Happy Birthday,’ really.” She was diagnosed with the disease in June, but had suspected something was wrong for more than a decade. Fearful of doctors, she put off seeing a neurologist until a guitarist friend noticed her trembling hands, and insisted she go. “I never in a million years thought I had Parkinson’s. Now I don’t know what to do. I have to find a support group.” Ronstadt has seen her income plummet because, while she released more than 20 albums, she wrote few songs, so her royalty checks are small. “Writers make all the money.” Her biggest hits—like “You’re No Good” and “Heart Like a Wheel”—were all written by others. “I was making good money when I was touring. [Now] I just can’t do it,” she says. “If there was something I could work on, I’d work on it till I could get [my voice] back. If there was a drug I could take to get it back, I would take the drug. I’d take napalm. But I’m never going to sing again.”

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