NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Singer/Songwriter Carly Simon has lost both sisters; composer Lucy Simon died Wednesday (October 19) at home in Piermont, NY, of metastatic breast cancer, and opera singer Joanna Simon died Thursday (October 20) of thyroid cancer. They were 82 and 85 years old.
Lucy was best known as a Broadway composer and was nominated for a Tony award for her original score on the musical The Secret Garden. Before that, she was 1/2 of the folk duo Simon Sisters with Carly. Lucy won a Grammy alongside her husband for Best Recording for Children for “In Harmony,” winning in 1981 and 1983 for the album’s sequel.
Joanna was a Broadway opera singer who performed in the lead role in Black Widow at the Seattle Opera in 1972. She sang opera in numerous productions up until 1986, when she retired. After retirement, she worked at PBS’s MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour, where she won an Emmy award in 1991 for her report on bipolar disease and its link to creativity. She was Walter Cronkite’s partner from 2005 until he died in 2009.
Carly released a statement as seen on Deadline, paying tribute to her dear sisters.
“I am filled with sorrow to speak about the passing of Joanna and Lucy Simon. Their loss will be long and haunting. As sad as this day is, it’s impossible to mourn them without celebrating their incredible lives that they lived.
We were three sisters who not only took turns blazing trails and marking courses for one another, we were each others secret shares. The co-keepers of each other’s memories. I have no words to explain the feeling of suddenly being the only remaining direct offspring of Richard and Andrea Simon.
They touched everyone they knew and those of us they’ve left behind will be lucky and honored to carry their memories forward. With great and eternal love and respect. – Carly Simon
Lucy and Joanna are preceded in death by their brother Peter who passed in 2018 at 71 due to cardiac arrest after also getting cancer. They are survived in death by their sister Carly.
In addition, Lucy is survived in death by her husband David, daughter Julie, and grandchildren Sophie, Charlie, Evie, and Ben.
