Singer Linda Ronstadt has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

The 67-year-old multi-Grammy Award winner has opened up about her struggle with the degenerative disorder in a new interview, revealing it has robbed her of her singing voice.

She tells the American Association of Retired Persons' monthly Aarp magazine, "I couldn't sing and I couldn't figure out why. 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.

"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."

Ronstadt, who released her last album in 2006 and recently penned a memoir, Simple Dreams, which will be out next month (Sep13), fears she'll never be able to sing again, adding, "No one can sing with Parkinson's disease. No matter how hard you try."

She tells the Aarp in an interview to be published next week (beg26Aug13) that she was diagnosed with the neurological disorder eight months ago.

She isn't the only star currently battling Parkinson's - boxing legend Muhammad Ali and actor Michael J. Fox are both sufferers.