Country singer Hal Ketchum is suffering from dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease and is no longer able to perform, according to a post Sunday by his wife, Andrea, on his Facebook page.

“I know everyone is wondering why there are no future tour dates, and speculations as to the reason,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, Hal is suffering from Alzheimer's/ Dementia. He has been battling this for some time now, but because of his love for his fans, he continued performing as long as it was possible. Dementia is an exhausting and confusing illness and now it's time for Hal to stay home with loved ones.”

Ketchum, she added, “is otherwise healthy and happy, enjoying time with his family and friends.”

New York native Ketchum, 66, got his start at open-mic sessions at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, where he was living and working as a carpenter.

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“It was a mythical kind of place,” he told the Washington Post in 1994. “Some people sat in the corner playing dominoes, and other people got up on stage and played their songs, and there was no more pretension about one than the other. And yet the standards of musicianship and songwriting were remarkably high, not in a competitive sense but in a traditional sense.”

Ketchum had a run of mainstream success after moving to Nashville in the mid-’80s. His Top 10 country hits include “Small Town Country Night,” “Hearts are Gonna Roll” and “Stay Forever.”

Complications from multiple sclerosis slowed him down and put his career on hold for a while, but Ketchum, who had moved back to the Hill Country, rebounded in 2014 with an independently released album, “I’m the Troubadour.”

“I really feel blessed,” he told the Express-News before a 2015 show at John T. Floore Country Store. “I’ve been doing this for 35 years, and I’m happy to say I’m singing good and I deliver every time.”

In her Facebook post, Andrea Ketchum thanked his fans for their support: “We all deeply appreciate how much love that you all have for Hal and how much his music means to you!”