# Linda Ronstadt's Parkinson's will prevent her from ever singing again. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075 "2013-08-24T19:17:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/21 "2013-08-29T01:47:42Z")
Her version of ‘Plow King’ rocked! I’m glad she and Barney finally found a project to work on together. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/22 "2013-08-29T02:38:21Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Her version of ‘Plow King’ rocked! I’m glad she and Barney finally found a project to work on together. Let it ring! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/23 "2013-08-29T03:01:08Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > I think it was a _Boy_ Scout uniform. > > But yes, just the other day, I was moaning about the days when someone could be a professional singer just by standing there, and you know, _singing._ With all their clothes on. When the talent was what mattered. It appears that we’re both wrong: it was a Cub Scout uniform. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/24 "2013-08-29T03:13:07Z")
I’m puzzled why she says she can’t sing. Michael J Fox’s voice was never affected even when his Parkinson was at it’s worst. Now he’s on a new medicine and improved so much that he’s returning to a new tv series. My favorite Ronstadt albums are Trio and Trio II with Dolly and Emmylou Harris. Ronstadt had a wonderful voice her entire career. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/25 "2013-08-29T03:46:37Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m puzzled why she says she can’t sing. Michael J Fox’s voice was never affected even when his Parkinson was at it’s worst. From what I’ve read, her loss of control over her voice is due to having gone undiagnosed and untreated for so long, while Michael J. Fox’s illness was caught early and managed properly. ---
**Author:** ![Beelzebubba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Beelzebubba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beelzebubba)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/26 "2013-08-29T04:46:29Z")
I think a few lyrics from “Long, Long Time” best express my feelings- “Caught in my fears Blinking back the tears I can’t say you hurt me when you never let me near” Love my Linda, singing or not! ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/27 "2013-08-29T05:03:36Z")
This is so sad. She could even do [Gilbert and Sullivan](http://youtu.be/RfjAJn4SC-w)! God I love that movie, and Ronstat is both beautiful and hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/28 "2013-08-29T07:22:43Z")
She was amazing. Just to spotlight a couple of songs that people might not know, her first solo single was a transcendent version of a song written by Fred Neil called “[The Dolphins](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkvqylYFXnY)” - and another great early one was “Up To My Neck in High Muddy Water,” which was from her Stone Poneys phase. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/29 "2013-08-29T17:43:03Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m puzzled why she says she can’t sing. Michael J Fox’s voice was never affected even when his Parkinson was at it’s worst. Now he’s on a new medicine and improved so much that he’s returning to a new tv series. > > My favorite Ronstadt albums are Trio and Trio II with Dolly and Emmylou Harris. Ronstadt had a wonderful voice her entire career. I wondered about that too. After all, Johnny Cash did arguably the best work of his career while afflicted with Parkinson’s. Of course, Cash never had a “quality” voice (although it was certainly distinctive) while Rondstadt certainly does. It may be that while she still _could_ sing she prefers not to because the disease has changed or reduced the quality of her voice. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/30 "2014-07-28T23:18:45Z")
she got a National Medal of the Arts from the pres, who had a crush on her. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/31 "2014-07-28T23:25:38Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > she got a National Medal of the Arts from the pres, who had a crush on her. Not one from the governor who was sleeping with her? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/32 "2014-07-29T00:31:28Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > she got a National Medal of the Arts from the pres, who had a crush on her. According to this,[she had to use a wheelchair to get in and out,](http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/president-honors-linda-ronstadt-national-medal-arts-n167116) although she did manage a few steps on her own to receive the medal. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/33 "2014-07-29T00:34:37Z")
What a tragedy. I really loved her when I was younger. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/34 "2014-07-29T03:16:42Z")
Aside from the expressiveness of her voice, what I loved about her was that even after she had several hits, she’d still sing backup on recordings for artists whose stars hadn’t risen nearly as high as here. She wasn’t too big to remember where she used to be. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/35 "2014-07-29T04:55:41Z")
I always appreciated her for covering Warren Zevon’s “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” and “Hasten Down the Wind”, as well as contributing backing vocals on “Excitable Boy.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/36 "2014-07-29T05:07:13Z")
There are two blessings. The first is her voice. The second is that we live in a time and place in which voices like hers are recorded, to enjoy as long as we want. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075/37 "2014-07-29T07:04:41Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > There are two blessings. The first is her voice. The second is that we live in a time and place in which voices like hers are recorded, to enjoy as long as we want. Nicely put. We also live in a time when we can keep posts like yours for as long as we want. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-ronstadts-parkinsons-will-prevent-her-from-ever-singing-again/667075.md?page=1)