As the sun sets behind the mountains near Las Vegas, a familiar voice can be heard singing behind a closed door.
“Is that Celine?” I ask.
Her security guard nods, confirming that I am about to interview a musical legend who seems to be in high spirits.
This iconic voice, once feared lost to her fans, belongs to Celine Dion.
“I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time,” she shared in an Instagram video in December 2022.
“I have been diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder.” Following this heartbreaking revelation, Dion canceled the rest of her world tour and has since remained largely out of the public eye.
Signs of Trouble
The medical name for Dion’s condition is Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disorder that causes muscle spasms.
During our interview, Dion explains that it went undiagnosed for years.
The 56-year-old artist recalls the distress she felt as her voice began to change during her performances.
“It was just feeling a little strange, like a little spasm,” she says.
“My voice was struggling, I was starting to push a little bit.”
She demonstrates by singing the opening bars of her 1993 hit “The Power of Love,” illustrating how she had to strain to maintain the notes.
Occasionally, she would ask the conductor to lower the key of certain songs, hoping it might help her voice recover.
Audiences were unaware of the challenges she faced behind the scenes.
However, Dion felt immense pressure to continue performing.
“These shows were sold out for a year and a half, going around the globe.
And I’m going to say to people, ‘Excuse me about my spasm? Excuse me about my je ne sais quoi?'” She pushed herself to keep the show going, not knowing the cause of her symptoms.
The eventual diagnosis revealed that her condition was not just fatigue from touring but a permanent ailment.
SPS is an autoimmune disease with no known cure, caused by improper signaling from nerves to muscles.
During severe episodes, the spasms can be so intense that she can barely move.
But with a proper diagnosis, Dion has learned to manage the condition with medication, physical therapy, and expert assistance.
“My goal is to be part of the funds and raising money for awareness and to find a cure. That would be amazing,” she says.
During her hiatus, Dion has been adapting to her condition with the help of Dr. Amanda Piquet.
“Now this disease is gaining public awareness, it’s in the public eye,” says Dr. Piquet, who has treated many patients previously undiagnosed.
Dr. Piquet believes that Dion’s openness about her condition will benefit others.
“We need to diagnose this disease better.
When we do, that’s going to lead to more clinical trials, and more treatments that are approved.”
Though Dion will live with SPS for the rest of her life, the therapy she is undergoing will help her sing on stage again. “My voice will be rebuilt,” says Dion.
“I mean, it started a while ago already.
My voice is being rebuilt as we speak, right now.”
New Vegas Show
Fans will get a closer look at Dion’s journey in a new documentary titled *I Am: Celine Dion*. She is preparing for a new show in Las Vegas and can finally see a path back to performing.
“We have been working so hard to put this show together, because I’m back,” she says with a huge smile. It’s clear that she has missed performing immensely.
“I’ll be on stage.
I don’t know when exactly, but trust me I will scream it out loud.
I can’t wait.”
Dion holds the record for the most successful residency on the Las Vegas strip.
She takes great pride in her career but acknowledges that her constant touring came at a price.
Reflecting on her years of traveling, she realizes she saw very little of the world.
“All my days off, I wanted to be ready for the next show.
I toured the world and I did not see a lot.
But as a performer and a singer, I have received so much love from the fans.”
Queen of Power Ballads
My earliest memory of Celine Dion is from secondary school, where a teacher played her single “Pour Que Tu M’aimes Encore” to inspire our French studies.
Known as the queen of power ballads, her hits from the 90s, like “The Power of Love” and “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” are famed for their powerful vocals. At the peak of her health battles, Dion admits to feeling a bit envious of the breathy, ‘whisperpop’ style of some modern female artists like Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey.
“I was like, well, should I just go to bed really, really late at night and start smoking?” she jokes.
“I was jealous.
I was like, they’re going out, they’re partying, they’re barely cleaned up, and they’re amazing.”
This contrasts sharply with the strict regimen she followed for much of her career.
“I was like, don’t talk, and don’t eat this, that’s too much dairy, it’s going to produce phlegm.”
Jokingly, she suggests she might throw her classical training out the window and adopt a new persona with a husky tone.
“How about that for a concert?” she says, winking at the camera.
Through her ongoing health battles, Dion maintains a sense of humor.
Regardless of the style she chooses, her fans will undoubtedly be thrilled to see her back on stage.
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