Celine Dion plans Las Vegas show amid Stiff Person Syndrome battle: 'I am back'
Celine Dion has announced she is preparing for a new show in Las Vegas despite her incurable neurological disorder that has hindered her ability to tour and perform.
In December 2022, the music superstar, whose best-known hits include Think Twice and It’s All Coming Back To Me Now, revealed her diagnosis as she cancelled her Courage World Tour.
The 56-year-old revealed that she initially tried lowering the key in which she sang to avoid canceling her 18-month world tour. However, once she realised her difficulties stemmed from more than just tour fatigue, she decided to reschedule and eventually cancel the European leg of her tour.
Since then, she has been undergoing medication and physical therapy to manage the spasms, which has enabled her to sing again.Speaking to the BBC about returning to the stage, she shared: “My voice will be rebuilt. I mean, it started a while ago already. My voice is being rebuilt as we speak, right now.”
“We have been working so hard to put this show together, because I am back,” the Canadian singer said, referring to the new show she is putting together in Las Vegas.
“I’ll be on stage. I don’t know when exactly, but trust me I will scream it out loud. I can’t wait.”
Her comments comes after Dion revealed she kept her SPS diagnosis secret for 17 years.
The pop icon admitted that hiding her illness from her fans was a heavy burden, describing it as “too much” for her to bear and had been dealing with its effects for nearly two decades before confirming it.
In an interview with Today show host Hoda Kotb, the Canadian singer discussed the pain of keeping her condition hidden from the public.
The acclaimed songstress said that she initially ignored the signs of her illness, while her late husband, René Angélil, battled throat cancer. Angélil died in 2016 aged 73.
Dion shared: “We did not know what was going on [with me]. I did not take the time... I should have stopped, took the time to figure it out.
“And like it wasn't enough, my husband as well is fighting for his own life.”
After her husband’s death, Dion said she found it challenging raising her children, René-Charles, 23, and twins Nelson and Eddy, 13, with her career—all while keeping her deteriorating health a secret from the public.
She continued: “I had to raise my kids, I had to hide, I had to try to be a hero - while feeling my body leaving me,' she continued. '[I was] holding on to my own dreams.”
But she said 'lying' eventually became “too much,” adding, “Lying for me was... The burden was too much. Lying to the people who got me to where I am today, I could not do it anymore.”
Reassuring Dion, Kotb said: “Not telling the truth was too much to carry” to which Dion replied, “I could not do this anymore.”
Dion has documented her health battle in a new Prime Video film called I Am: Celine Dion, which is set to air on June 25.
Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Irene Taylor, it will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the Canadian singer’s life since being diagnosed and the lengths she has gone to in order to carry on performing.
The main symptoms of SPS are muscle stiffening and spasming and there is currently no cure for the disease, but there are ways for it to be treated including through the use of muscle sedatives and relaxants.
Physical and occupational therapy is also a treatment route for people with SPS.
Dion has sold more than 250 million albums during her 40-year career, earning five Grammys, two Oscars and the Billboard Music Award lifetime achievement icon award.
