Celine Dion reveals that she has been experiencing terrifying symptoms for years and has decided to publicly announce her rare disease once the burden of lying to her fans about her condition became “too heavy.” The Quebec star talks about the neurological disorder that affects her life in an excerpt from her interview with Hoda Kotb, which will be broadcast in its entirety on Tuesday night on NBC.
The 56-year-old singer acknowledges that she should have stopped performing earlier to understand what was wrong. Dion said she began to notice symptoms of Stiff Person Syndrome during her world tour “Taking Chances” in 2008, as her voice weakened during concerts in Germany and her body became stiffer. Dion claims that she and her team kept silent about it because they did not know what was happening with her health.
It took more than a decade of tests and treatments to receive an official diagnosis of Stiff Person Syndrome, a progressive disease that causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms. Celine Dion reveals that she finally shared her diagnosis with the world in December 2022 because she felt like she was “lying” to the people who brought her to where she is today. She told Kotb that her body was failing her as her husband René Angélil was dying of cancer and she was trying to raise their children. Her condition became so severe that at one point, she had “broken ribs” due to spasms, she recounted. “I should have stopped, taken the time to understand,” she admitted. But the singer promises to return to the stage, even if she has to “crawl.” “I am Celine 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,” she explained.
The full interview with Celine Dion will be broadcast at 10 p.m. on NBC. A documentary about her health issues, “I am: Celine Dion,” will premiere on June 25 on Prime Video.