“Celine Dion Vows to Overcome Stiff-Person Syndrome and Return to the Stage, Even if it Means Crawling”
Known as the Queen of Power Ballads, Celine Dion is famous for her unique, powerful, and soulful voice. Despite her diagnosis of stiff-person syndrome, she continues to pursue her successful career.
“What did this disease take away from you?” Hoda Kotb asked the singer in a new Today preview of their upcoming sit-down interview on Tuesday, June 11. Dion replied, “It didn’t take anything away from me. I’m going to go back on stage, even if I have to crawl. Even if I have to talk with my hands, I will. I will.”
Stiff person syndrome is a rare autoimmune neurological disorder that most commonly causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms that happen from time to time and get worse if not treated.
What inspired Celine Dion to come forward and speak about her condition?
Celine Dion said that she had been living with Stiff person syndrome for more than a decade until she could not do it anymore. Dion, who announced she had been diagnosed with the disorder in December 2022, said that she “did not take the time” to accept her health condition because her husband was also “fighting for his own life.
For those who remain unaware, her husband and longtime manager, Rene Angélil, died in January 2016 at age 73 following a long battle with cancer. She further added that she had to be strong for her kids and hide her pain from them until she could not take it anymore.
The singer even recalled a shocking time when she had broken ribs at one point due to her condition. She also compared singing with her condition to feeling like “somebody strangling you,” explaining that her spasms can also happen “in the abdominal, can be in the spine, and can be in the ribs.”
Celine Dion is a fighter
Despite facing several setbacks because of her condition, a source exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2023 that Dion is a fighter who is “working with doctors and physical therapists to get better.” Moreover, she has been taking a lot of care of her health and still manages to make public appearances, including presenting at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
Dion also said that she loves singing and would never give it up till the end of time. “I spent all my life in the music industry being a performer and loving every moment of it. This passion will never go away,” she added.
Meanwhile, Dion is all set to give her fans an in-depth look at her fight against SPS in the new documentary, I Am: Celine Dion, streaming globally on June 25 on Prime Video.
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