Linda Ronstadt Opens Up About Losing Her Iconic Voice Forever

Linda Ronstadt‘s hauntingly beautiful voice has spanned decades. Her career has been a very successful one and made her one of the most accomplished vocalists of all time. Sadly, her career came to a screeching halt when she was diagnosed with a disease that would take her iconic voice away.

About a decade ago, Linda was diagnosed with Parkison’s disease. In 2019, she was rediagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy. Unfortunately, there is no cure and the disease has taken away her singing voice. However, she still keeps music in her life and that will likely never change.

Linda Ronstadt is not angry about the disease that took away her singing voice

Linda explained, “I can still sing in my mind. Sometimes I have to look up the words, because I forget the lyrics. But then I’ll sing a song in my head all the way through, like a hummingbird.” She added that she has been very accepting of her disease.

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Linda shared, “Well, I don’t have a choice. If I had a choice, then I might be pissed off. I try not to live in the future. I live in the present. I mean, we’re all going to die of something, we just don’t know what it is. Even I don’t know what it is. Yes, I have a progressive disease, but I might get hit by a bus next week. I’ve been lucky. I have had a lot of really good help. My daughter is very helpful, so I’m well taken care of.”

Now at 74 years old, she is focusing more on writing. She is releasing a book next month that she wrote with journalist Lawrence Downes called Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands. The book opens up about the culture of the Sonoran Desert, which goes from Arizona to Mexico. This is where Linda has a lot of roots as she grew up in Arizona and has Mexican heritage.

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