Céline Dion is not going to allow her health struggles to prevent her from performing again.
The music icon, who publicly revealed in December 2022 that
she was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, has canceled her concerts over
the past two years. But that doesn’t mean she won’t return to the stage one
day.
In an interview Hoda Kotb, airing in full in an NBC
primetime special June 11, Dion reveals that she will do whatever it takes to
reunite with her fans.
What did this disease take away from you?
The singer replies, “It didn’t take anything away from me.
I’m going to go back onstage, even if I have to crawl. Even if I have to talk
with my hands, I will. I will.”
She adds, “I am Céline Dion, because today my voice will be
heard for the first time, not just because I have to, or because I need to.
It’s because I want to and I miss it.”
Dion, 56, will open up about the rare neurological condition
and what she has overcome the past two years in her full interview with Hoda,
airing June 11 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
The Interview arrives about a week before her documentary,
“I Am: Céline Dion,” is released on Amazon Prime Video on June 25.
The Grammy winner’s journey back to the stage has been difficult. Stiff person syndrome is a progressive disorder that can dramatically alter quality of life. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, stiff person syndrome can cause muscle stiffness in a person’s torso and limbs and can also lead to heightened sensitivity to noise, touch and emotional stress. The disorder can cause painful muscle spasms, as well.
In another clip from her talk with Hoda, the “My Heart Will
Go On” singer described what it now feels like for her to sing.
“It’s like somebody is strangling you,” she said. “It’s like
somebody is pushing your larynx/pharynx this way.”
After demonstrating, she continued, “It was like talking
like that, and you cannot go high or lower. It gets into a spasm.”
The pain can travel throughout her entire body.
“It can also be in the abdominal, can be in the spine, can
be in the ribs. But it feels like if I point my feet, they will stay in a
(stuck position), or if I cook — because I love to cook — my fingers, my hands
will get in a position,” she explained.
She said sometimes her feet will start cramping up and stay
in that position because she “cannot unlock them.” These repeated spasms have
caused injuries.
“I have broken ribs at one point because sometimes, when
it’s very severe, it can break some ribs as well,” she shared.
She first spoke about stiff person syndrome in a video
uploaded to her Instagram in December 2022. At the time, she was supposed to go
on tour in February 2023. She said in her announcement that she needed to
cancel the dates. In May 2023, she confirmed that the rest of her world tour
was canceled due to her ongoing health problems.
In a May interview with Vogue, Dion revealed she felt early
symptoms in 2008 during her “Taking Chances World Tour.”
Dion acknowledges in her new documentary that she did not
want to publicly address her health issues in the past.
“I have been diagnosed with a very rare neurological
disorder and I wasn’t ready to say anything before, but I’m ready now,” she
says in a trailer for the film.
Dion told Hoda in a third preview from their upcoming
interview that she reached a point where she couldn’t hide her pain, which had
increased over the years.
“I could not do this anymore,” she said. “We did not know
what was going on.”
She explained to Hoda why she initially didn’t take a break
from performing before changing her mind.
“I should have stopped, take the time to figure it out,”
Dion said. “My (late) husband (René Angélil), as well, was fighting for his own
life. I had to raise my kids. I had to hide. I had to try to be a hero. Feeling
my body leaving me, holding onto my own dreams. And the lying for me … the
burden was too much.”