“I have not stopped living, and I have not stopped working,” she insisted. Simon explained that recording her new album, Comes in Waves (due Aug. 14), presented its own challenges amid her health struggles, which also included treatment for basal cell carcinoma.
“That still feels mysterious to me. Music has always known when to arrive. It has rescued me more times than I can count. It is like a cat or dog that quietly appears beside you when it senses you are not quite yourself,” she said. The project draws on long-dormant material.
“The album includes songs and fragments of songs that had been waiting for me, some for years. There were melodies, verses, and ideas written down and tucked away for some unknown future when I would have the time and attention to finish them. Apparently, that future is now,” she added.
Simon noted that Parkinson’s is unpredictable—some days leave her exhausted and immobilized by apathy, while others allow more movement, thought, and a sense of self. She described joint-replacement surgeries that failed to resolve mobility issues, followed by a Mayo Clinic diagnosis, medication for stiffness and other symptoms, and facial surgery for the skin cancer that heightened her self-consciousness.
She has withdrawn from public view at times but emphasized that the illness, while difficult, frustrating, and sometimes frightening, has not defined her entire life. Music, she said, gave shape to unstructured days and reminded her that illness need not become everything.