carolb, we were just discussing this unfortunate ailment.

You do know who Linda Thompson is, yes?

Linda Thompson Can't Sing Anymore. She Still Has Plenty to Say

The grand dame of the British folk scene lost her voice to spasmodic dysphonia, but a new album featuring guest singers keeps her music alive

JULY 5 AT 6:37 AM

On a recent afternoon in a cinderblock-walled rehearsal room in Brooklyn's Prospect Park neighborhood, a gem of the British folk-rock movement is returning to life. Fronting a small band, Tammy Faye Starlite, a petite blonde with a commanding voice, is throwing herself into Richard and Linda Thompson's "Hokey Pokey," jumping up and down during instrumental breaks.

As Starlite sings, a small, thin woman -- in khakis, crisp white sneakers, a blue polo shirt and a sky-blue baseball cap, her brown hair pulled back -- rises from her seat on the sidelines. Arms folded, she walks to different corners of the room, head down, listening to the music. Every so often, she moves her hands with the rhythm or does the slightest of jigs.

The only thing Linda Thompson isn't able to do is sing along with a tune she recorded five decades ago. "I can't," she says, sitting back down on a folding chair. "I mean, I really wish I could. It's enough for me to speak."

Now 76, Thompson is a grand dame of the British folk scene. Although she made records (and sang on British TV commercials) before she met and married Richard, it's her work with him, in the Seventies and Eighties, for which she's best known. Although Richard wrote most of their material, Linda took the lead on some of their most haunting songs: "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight," "Walking on a Wire," "The Great Valerio," "Dimming of the Day." Her delivery was "the clearest, bell-like, unfettered, unencumbered and unpretentious voice," says their son Teddy Thompson, also a singer and songwriter.

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LINK ➡️ https://apple.news/APz1BXT_GS8C5OHMrq3TQSQ

I love Linda Thompson. And talk about heartache or a bitter pill to swallow…