David Cassidy
David Cassidy revelation comes after he reportedly forgot lyrics to songs, he has been performing for the past 50 years - File image ITV/YouTube

David Cassidy, who is well known for his role in the 1970s musical series The Partridge Family, has revealed that he suffers from dementia, an incurable memory loss disease. Cassidy is 66 years old.

"I was in denial, but a part of me always knew this was coming," the actor-turned-singer, in a heartbreaking interview with People Magazine, said.

I Think I Love You and Cherish hitmaker's mother and his grandfather also suffered from the disease. He witnessed his mother battle dementia until her death at 89 in 2012.

"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," he said.

Cassidy's revelation comes after he reportedly forgot lyrics to songs, he has been performing for the past 50 years, during his show in Agoura Hills, California this past weekend.

Cassidy has now shifted his priorities as he has decided to stop his musical journey and instead focus on his health.

"I want to focus on what I am, who I am and how I've been without any distractions," Cassidy said. "I want to love. I want to enjoy life."

Cassidy has struggled with drinking and financial troubles in the recent past. He filed for bankruptcy in 2015. He was also arrested three times for drunken driving between 2010 and 2014.

In 2014 he was also ordered to enter a rehab programme as part of his sentence for drunken driving.