Linda Ronstadt is fighting for her life.
The 11-time Grammy winner revealed to AARP.org, that she has Parkinson's Disease and is no longer able to sing due to the degenerative condition which attacks the central nervous system.
In an article posted on the AARP site Friday, the 67-year-old music legend said she was diagnosed eight months ago, but may have experienced symptoms as early as eight years ago. Ronstadt attributes her inability to sing then to a tick disease. When her hands began to tremble, Ronstadt said she thought the shaking was the result of a shoulder operation.
"I couldn't sing and I couldn't figure out why," the artist told AARP. "I knew it was mechanical. I knew it had to do with the muscles, but I thought it might have also had something to do with the tick disease that I had. And it didn't occur to me to go to a neurologist."
Ronstadt said she was completely shocked by the news and would not have suspected it would be Parkinson's "in a million, billion years."
"No one can sing with Parkinson's disease," Ronstadt said. "No matter how hard you try."
In the singer's upcoming memoir "Sweet Dreams," Ronstadt does not address her condition or symptoms. She now uses poles to walk on uneven ground and a wheelchair when traveling, according to AARP.
Ronstadt is not alone in her fight with Parkinson's; other big-name celebrites like Michael J. Fox, who will play a news anchor struggling with the disease in a self-titled NBC sitcom this fall and boxing icon Muhammad Ali have brought Parkinson's to the public eye.
As a singer, Ronstadt sold tens of millions of records with hits like "You're No Good", "Hurt So Bad" and "Don't Know Much".
