After struggling to remember the lyrics to some of his most famous songs during a concert this weekend, David Cassidy has revealed that he is suffering from dementia and has decided to retire from touring. David was a teen idol in the ’70s both for his solo music career and his role on the TV show The Partridge Family. The disease runs in David’s family as both his grandfather and mother suffered from it. This is really sad news.

The 66-year-old actor, widely known for his starring role as Keith Partridge on the 1970s series The Partridge Family, reveals to PEOPLE that he is fighting the memory loss disease.

Cassidy, who watched his grandfather battle the disease and witnessed his mother “disappear” into dementia until she died at age 89, tells PEOPLE of his diagnosis: “I was in denial, but a part of me always knew this was coming.”

Of his mother’s struggles, Cassidy recalls: “In the end, the only way I knew she recognized me is with one single tear that would drop from her eye every time I walked into the room. … I feared I would end up that way.”

Now that he’s come to terms with his condition, Cassidy has made the decision to stop touring as a musician to concentrate on his health and happiness. “I want to focus on what I am, who I am and how I’ve been without any distractions,” he says. “I want to love. I want to enjoy life.”

[From People]

David has been plagued with issues from many years now. Most recently his third wife divorced him, he filed for bankruptcy and he was involved in a hit-and-run accident. Prior to that, David was arrested for multiple DUIs, which led to him finally seeking rehab in 2014. Not sure how familiar you are with David but he was huge in his youth. HUGE. As a solo artist, his tours sold out stadiums in one day. As Keith Partridge, his fame (briefly) eclipsed his step-mother, Shirley Jones, who played his mother on the show. His life has been plagued with sadness. He never quite recovered from a fan’s death who was crushed during one of his concerts in London. His father, actor/singer Jack Cassidy, with whom David and his three half-brothers struggled, died quite tragically. I am not excusing any of David’s DUIs, just giving framework for his demons. And David wants everyone to know that his current issues do stem from dementia and are are not in any way a relapse.

I didn’t know much about David’s mom, Evelyn Ward, and had no idea about her Alzheimer’s/Dementia but apparently it led to David becoming a spokesperson for the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation. (I admit, his half-brother Shaun is one of my true-loves and I know much more about him.) David traveled the nation telling his story about watching his mother’s decline. According to David, he had no idea his mother was suffering initially because her husband was an old-school ‘don’t air your dirty laundry‘ type. When he died prior to Evelyn, a neighbor called David, who was living on the separate coast, and that’s how David first found out. I can only imagine the fear of waiting all this time for the signs to appear in him and knowing what the future holds. He is close to his half-brothers so he has that support network. I believe he is also still close to Shirley.

Obviously I am a little soft for David. I wish him the best during this time.

Photo credit: WENN Photos and Getty Images