Kiwi musical icon Sir Dave Dobbyn has announced he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
The 65-year-old wrote in a Facebook post, "I have felt a little shaky for a while now and in July I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease."
The musician said the diagnosis has given him a "wider appreciation of life".
"Of late I have a tremor in my right hand which gives my guitar playing a new kind of twang. I have to do what I love, so it's business as usual and on with the show, singing all the way."
Dobbyn burst onto the scene with Th' Dudes in 1979, and enjoyed further success with his band DD Smash and then as a solo artist.
His songs Slice of Heaven, Loyal and Whaling are singalong favourites for Kiwis.
Dobbyn has won countless New Zealand Music Awards, APRA awards, ARIA awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand.
He was knighted in 2020 and appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2003 for services to music.
Dobbyn is set to headline Hawke's Bay's Christmas in the Park Concert this December.
It will be his first time at the event since a previous appearance in 2015 which attracted a record live crowd at the time of 27,000 people to Anderson Park.
This year's event will take place on December 3 at the Mitre 10 Sports Park in Hastings.
- More to come.
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