Until last month, Carly Simon had been keeping a low profile - which, for a singer-songwriter of her caliber, usually means either plotting a comeback or dealing with some serious life stuff. Turns out it was both. In a characteristically witty letter to fans, Simon announced she’s been living with Parkinson’s disease and recovering from successful skin cancer surgery. “Some days I’m so tired I can’t get the day moving at all,” she writes. “On others, it gives me a little more room to move, think, work, and feel like myself.”

Simon first noticed signs of Parkinson’s while recovering from multiple knee and hip replacements due to arthritis. Mobility issues lingered, and she describes the sensation of being “swallowed by the chair” like a guest who has “badly overstayed her welcome.” The psychological toll has been significant, with Simon noting that Parkinson’s can bring “anxiety, depression, exhaustion, and apathy.” She likens the apathy to lying “like a starfish drying in the sun” while the part of the brain that sends out “invitations to participate in life” has “temporarily misplaced the guest list.”

Meanwhile, Simon underwent surgery for basal cell carcinoma on her face, which left her more self-conscious about her appearance - a rich irony for the woman who wrote “You’re So Vain.” But music has been a lifeline: working on her new album, *Comes in Waves*, gave “shape to days that did not always have much shape.” The album, out August 14, includes songs and fragments stored away for years, co-written and produced with David Spencer, and features the late John Forté in one of his last recorded appearances.