Céline Dion refuses to let her health issues get in the way of her career and vows to return to the stage, ‘Even If I Have To Crawl.’
The five-time Grammy winner had to cancel tour dates in 2022 after being diagnosed with stiff person syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological condition causing difficulty in breathing and muscle spasms.
“I’m gonna go back onstage, even if I have to crawl,” she declared in an interview with Hoda Kotb on “Today.”
“Even if I have to talk with my hands. I will. 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.”
The ‘My Heart Will Go On’ singer added, “It’s because I want to, and I miss it.”
However, Dion described singing with SPS as feeling “like somebody’s strangling you,” and mentioned she had suffered broken ribs from spasms.
“It’s been very difficult, very painful, challenging, scary,” Dion said Tuesday. “I could say that it’s like a little cold starting, or just because they push too much and it’s the third show in a row, but it was different, to feel like the body was getting more rigid.”
In 2008, while on tour in Germany, Dion first noticed symptoms of the disorder. She experienced panic when she couldn’t hit certain notes during rehearsals and, not wanting to disappoint her audience, chose to sing in a lower key and ended the show early.
The singer eventually started treating her symptoms with prescription medications.
“I did not know, honestly, that it could kill me,” she revealed to Kotb. “I would take, like, for example, 20 milligrams of Valium before a performance, and then just walking from my dressing room to backstage, it was gone already.”
She said her tolerance increased, leading her to consume up to 90 mg daily.
Despite these challenges, Dion remains committed to moving forward, especially since her children have already experienced the loss of a parent when her husband, René Angélil, passed away from throat cancer in 2016.
“Trying to overcome this autoimmune disorder has been one of the hardest experiences of my life, but I remain determined to one day get back onto the stage and to live as normal a life as possible,” she wrote in March. “I am deeply grateful for … all of you!”
Her documentary, “I Am: Céline Dion,” will be available on Amazon Prime Video starting June 25.
