LOS ANGELES: Former teen idol David Cassidy said on Monday
he was suffering from dementia, a day after weekend performances in
California in which he forgot his words and appeared to fall off stage
raised concern about his health.
The former Partridge Family singer and actor, 66, told People
magazine he was fighting dementia, a disease which his mother also
suffered from.
"I was in denial, but a part of me always knew this was coming," Cassidy told People.
Cassidy told the magazine he had decided to stop touring as a musician to concentrate on his health.
"I want to focus on what I am, who I am and how I've been, without
any distractions," he said. 'I want to love. I want to enjoy life."
Cassidy's publicist said his comments were accurate but gave no further details.
His comments followed videos taken by fans of the singer struggling
to remember words to some of his old hits at small venue concerts in
southern California on Saturday and Sunday. At one point, he appeared to
fall off the side of a small stage before climbing back up.
Cassidy, whose hits "Cherish" and "I Think I Love You" had teenage
girls swooning in the 1970s, has struggled with drinking and financial
troubles in recent years.
In 2015, he had to auction his Florida home after a bankruptcy
filing. He was arrested three times for drunken driving between 2010 and
2014, and was ordered to rehab as part of his sentence in 2014.
Cassidy appeared in several stage shows after his career as a solo
singer declined. He played an aging former teen heartthrob in the
short-lived 2009 TV comedy "Ruby & the Rockits" and was a member of
the "Celebrity Apprentice" reality TV show in 2011.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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