Céline Dion is ready to talk about her years-long health difficulties.
In the teaser for her upcoming documentary, “I Am: Céline Dion,” the music superstar begins to discuss how being diagnosed with stiff person syndrome has changed her life.
“I have been diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder and I wasn’t ready to say anything before,” she adds in the video. “But I’m ready now.”
“I see my life and adore every aspect of it. “When a girl loves her shoes, she always makes them fit,” she says.
“It’s not difficult to stage a show. It’s difficult to cancel the show. I work hard every day. But I must say, it’s been difficult. “I miss it so much.”
In a recent interview with Vogue coinciding with the publication of the teaser, the singer discussed her early days with the disease.
“I was rapidly losing control of my voice,” Dion told the magazine. “It would get so high, and then spasm. So what’s the first thing you do as a singer? So, you head straight to the ENT.
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Doctors examined her vocal chords but found no issues, so she went ahead and finished her tour, another Las Vegas residency, and five more tours. Along the way, she began to have muscle tightness and difficulty walking. “I was holding onto things,” Dion explained.
Finally, in 2020, when the pandemic struck, she had time to seek solutions. “After years of playing hide-and-seek with myself, my friends, my family, and my children, I didn’t want to be courageous anymore. I tried for as long as I could. “It was time for me to be smart,” she reflected.
After undergoing various medical testing, she was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome. “It may sound strange to say this to you, but when I was diagnosed, I was happy. “I was finally able to move with the wave, not against it,” Dion explained.
Her documentary, “I Am: Céline Dion,” branded as a “love letter to her fans,” will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video on June 25.
Ahead of its release, the singer will appear in an exclusive primetime special with TODAY’s Hoda Kotb, which will run on June 11 at 10 p.m. ET, marking her first broadcast interview since revealing her diagnosis.
The “My Heart Will Go On” singer addressed her sickness in an emotional (now-deleted) Instagram video from December 2022. The dangerous neurological condition is an uncommon one that can induce stiffness and muscular spasms. Stiff person syndrome can impair a person’s mobility and ability to sing.
In her 2022 announcement, she stated that she needed to cancel her tour, which was scheduled to begin in February 2023.
“While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know this is what’s been causing all of the spasms that I’ve been having,” she stated at the time. “Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal (cords) to sing the way I’m used to.”
She returned to the podium in May 2023 to announce that she was forced to cancel the remainder of her global tour owing to health issues.
“It is with tremendous disappointment that we have to announce today the cancellation of the Courage World Tour,” she said in a now-deleted Instagram post.
In an additional post on her website, she wrote, “I’m so sorry for disappointing all of you again. I’m trying hard to regain my strength, but touring can be challenging even when you’re 100%. It’s not fair to you to keep postponing the events, and even though it aches me heart, we should cancel everything now until I’m truly ready to return to the stage.”
A post shared by Céline Dion (@celinedion)
She stated, “I’m not giving up. I cannot wait to see you again!”
Dion made a rare public appearance at the 2024 Grammy Awards in February, presenting album of the year. The audience greeted her on stage with tremendous cheers. “Thank you all, I love you right back,” she remarked as she saw the standing ovation. “When I say I’m happy to be here, I really mean it from my heart.”
She has recently been active on social media, posting a photo with stylist Law Roach on the evening of the music awards presentation. On May 15, she shared a backstage photo with Mick Jagger and her sons during The Rolling Stones’ concert in Las Vegas.
The trailer for her upcoming film follows her recent interview with Vogue France, in which she discussed living with stiff person syndrome.
“I hope that we’ll find a miracle, a way to cure it with scientific research,” she told the magazine in April. “But for now I have to learn to live with it.”
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