Ill Health Forces Linda Ronstadt To Stop Singing

American country superstar Linda Ronstadt has revealed to aarp.org that she "can't sing a note" due to her suffering from Parkinson's disease.

The 67 year-old performer catapulted to global fame in the '70s, leaping easily between pop and roots genres, utilising a multiple-octave vocal range that could deliver aching soul, pristine radio ballads and barroom belters.

Ronstadt told the site that she now uses poles to assist her walking and requires a wheelchair when travelling. She bluntly stated that "no matter how hard you try" that no one who lives with the degenerative disorder, that attacks the nervous system, can sing.

She explained that the first symptons appeared eight years ago, but thought that her trembling was due to a shoulder operation she'd undergone. She had also put the troubles with her voice down to a tick bite: "Parkinson's is very hard to diagnose, so when I finally went to a neurologist and he said, 'Oh, you have Parkinson's disease,' I was completely shocked. I wouldn't have suspected that in a million, billion years."

With a string of hits and high profile collaborations behind her, Ronstadt is publishing her memoirs Simple Dreams next month. She told aarp that the book does not cover the topic of her health.

Ronstadt has clocked up an incredible 63 singles in her long-spanning career including hits You're No Good, Blue Bayou and It's So Easy. She also recorded two albums as part of a country supertrio with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris.