Reclusive fitness guru Richard Simmons delighted fans this week with the surprise drop of a forgotten dance track, featuring the vocals of the curly-haired legend himself.
The one-time professional extrovert, 75, shocked his 425,000 Facebook followers with the release of the toe-tapping tune, entitled “Aerobique.”
“I have a gift for you. I wrote many songs with my partners Chris and Kathy Phillips. Most people have never heard them. Please share these with your friends,” the 80s icon wrote.
“We will put them up a few at a time so you don’t get tired of my voice,” he said, signing the post “Love, Richard.”
The New Orleans native had become increasingly secluded in recent years, prompting wild speculation, ranging from the rumor that his housekeeper was holding him hostage to the theory that he was transgender and living as a woman named Fiona.
A documentary entitled “TMZ Investigates: What Really Happened to Richard Simmons” claims the real reason he disappeared was due to a secret birth defect and his overall failing health.
In 2023, The Post reported that Simmons had not been seen outside his home in Los Angeles since 2017.
In the wake of a very brief statement released on his 75th birthday last July, the “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” creator appears to be enjoying reconnecting with his adoring public from time to time lately, after years of mostly keeping to himself.
Reviews of the unexpected track were mostly enthusiastic.
“It did NOT disappoint,” Boing Boing writer Jennifer Sandlin said, calling out the track’s “funky disco grooves and Euro house vibes.”
Simmons is featured on vocals, which he delivers almost in the style of a beat poet — spoken word but with plenty of Simmons-level energy to back it up.
The track is undated, but numerous amateur critics called out the late 1980s, European dance energy of the tune, which contains lyrics such as:
It’s so chic to do my aerobique
and
These steps will work off quiche and mousse
And in time you’ll have a tight caboose
“I enjoy all you share cause I know it’s out of love for us that miss you. You don’t have to do any of this but you do so cause you know you’re missed and a part of you misses us too,” one Facebook fan gushed.
“So thankful you have come back to your fans that love you,” another wrote.
Also this week on Facebook, Simmons posted a touching two-part recollection of his mother Shirley, who lived to the age of 87.
Simmons has also lately spoken out about a planned film about his life, starring Pauly Shore.
“I have never given my permission for this movie,” he said in a widely-publicized statement.