Posted on 06/13/2019 7:30:02 PM PDT by lowbridge
In a letter released by his spokesman Howard Bragman on Tuesday, the 83-year-old singer, best known as a member of the musical duo “Steve and Eydie” with his late wife, Eydie Gormé, opened up about his recent diagnosis and how he’s coping with the news.
“Dear Friends, There have been a number of rumors and some press reaching out to me and I feel it’s important that I tell my own truth,” he wrote in the letter obtained by PEOPLE. “I have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and it’s in the early stages. I am being treated with medications under the supervision of some of the finest doctors in the field. Fortunately, they have managed to slow down this horrific process. I’m living my life, going out in public and trying to spend as much time as possible with my family and friends while I am still able to engage and enjoy.”
He continued: “I want my beloved fans to know that in spite of this bittersweet moment, what I don’t want is pity or sympathy – I have lived and am living a wonderful, joyous life filled with love, support, and amazing moments. With my beloved Eydie, I had one of the great loves of all time; my career has always been there for me as a source of joy and fulfillment; and you, my fans, have shown immeasurable love and support in ways I only could have imagined.”
“As I continue this journey, I ask for your prayers, your good wishes and implore you to find the joy every day, because what I feel is gratitude, love and hope — nothing more and nothing less, and I hope you can find the same,” he concluded. “With love, Steve Lawrence.”
(Excerpt) Read more at ew.com ...
Steve Lawrence wasn’t a teen icon or even primarily a recording artist, spending most of his career on stage or performing live in nightclubs. But he did very well: “Go Away Little Girl” (U.S. #1), “Pretty Blue Eyes” (U.S. #9), “Footsteps” (U.S. #7), “Portrait of My Love” (U.S. #9), and “Party Doll” (U.S. #5). “Go Away, Little Girl” sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a Gold record.
Peace be with him.
Prayers for him.
BS, medicines slowing it down. Nothing pharmaceutical works, and probably very little else. I’m sorry he’s been cursed with it. Hope they can keep his mood adjusted. And that his road is not long. Moms had it 9 years.
Their late son was also a class act.
In early 1986 I was out jogging and a kitten latched onto me and followed me home. We adopted her and named her Eydie.
She lived with us for seventeen years. Beautiful creature.
Steve & Eydie were beautiful music of another age. I’m grateful to be old enough to remember their art.
We had a great “Beautiful Music/Legends” AM station in Dallas throughout the 2000s, but they fell on hard times vis a vis advertising, so they added an hour of infomercials during the day. This soon got bumped up to two, then three, then four hours. As you might imagine, this drove the majority of the audience away, and they eventually just shunted music off to their website. Once even that was gone, they went back to their roots and just became a Christian talk station.
It was a good run. They would play all the acts you mentioned and the DJs were terrific. They were elderly, however, and they began to die off. The new blood started cycling in more recent music like Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. Coincidentally (or not), this shift to more ‘80s and up music coincided with the start of the decline.
I switched over to talk radio sometime around 1970 and never went back until I recently added some oldies stations to my presets. I have been told that I missed a lot of good music over the last 40+ years. But tending bar for 25-30 years exposed me to the popular tunes, by juke boxes or bands.
Yeah. Music changes a lot. The crooners are pretty much all gone, with the big dance bands. I have a soft spot for big band and swing.
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