“Eventually, there were times when I couldn’t walk without a lot of help,” she continued. “My family and I both knew there was something more going on. After thorough testing at the Mayo Clinic, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.”
Simon said the slowness of his movements was “one of the hardest things to explain” and that around the same time he discovered he had basal cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, on his face.
“The cancer was removed, but the surgery affected my appearance and made me more self-conscious about being seen in public,” the “You’re So Vain” singer said. “I’ve always been more critical of my appearance than anyone else could imagine (see the irony of writing ‘You’re So Vain’), and this gave my inner critic quite a lot of new material.”
“Given my movement disorders, my Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, my surgery, and the mental impact of it all, withdrawing from public life was the most favorable response,” Simon explained. “If humans can hibernate in both winter and summer, then I’ve become a bear for all seasons.”
However, Simon says that although his next album will include his first original music in 18 years, he has “not stopped living”.
