CREDIT: WWW.CELINEDION.COM
The singer sobbed as she revealed that she suffers from the stiff-person syndrome, saying, “Unfortunately, the spasm impacts every area of my everyday life.”
In a heartbreaking video, Celine Dion explained that she had been diagnosed with a rare neurological disease, which meant she had to postpone the rest of her 2023 Courage World Tour.
The 54-year-old singer revealed her struggles with health in a video posted to Instagram on Thursday. “I’ve been struggling with concerns with my health for a long time,” she added. In the words of the patient: “Recently I was diagnosed with an extremely unusual neurological illness called stiff-person syndrome [SPS], which affects something like one in a million people.”
She said, “We now know that my spasms have been caused by a rare illness that we are still studying. The spasm has a negative impact on every aspect of my life, from making it difficult to walk to preventing me from singing with the same ease as before.”
After first postponing the European Courage concert tour in 2022 due to “chronic” health problems, Dion has now declared that she will not be able to resume the trip as scheduled.
“I have a brilliant team of doctors working alongside me to help me get better, and my wonderful children, who are supporting me and giving me hope,” she said, crying. “I’ve been diligently training with a physical sports therapist to regain my strength. But I’ll be honest; it hasn’t been easy. Singing is all that I know how to do. I’ve been doing this for most of my life, and it’s also my greatest passion. In a word, In a word, I long for your company once again. I miss nothing more than being on stage in front of a crowd.”
Finally, she said, “It pains me to not be able to offer you my full attention and energy, as I normally do in my performances. Unfortunately, I have to prioritize my health right now if I want to get in touch with you again, but I’m optimistic that I’m on the mend. This is my main priority, and I’m taking all the necessary steps to become better.”
Dion’s “severe and persistent muscle spasms” prevented her from performing in Las Vegas in October 2021, as planned, and forced her to cancel her next Courage tour in January 2022.
CREDIT: ALICE CHICHE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
SPS is an immunological and neurological condition that causes spasms and muscle tightness in places like the limbs.
We wish Celine Dion well and hope she makes a full recovery and returns to the stage.