Seems Renowned Canadian singer Celine Dion is not yet ready to give up on her musical career just because of her ongoing health issues.
The five-time Grammy winner has vowed she will be returning to the state once again for musical performances, says she will return to stage even if she has to crawl.
She made this known during an interview with American television host Hoda Kotb on the Today Show.
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“I’m going to go back on stage, even if I have to crawl. Even if I have to talk with my hands, I will. 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.” she told Hoda Kotb on the show.
“It’s because I want to. And I miss it.” Dion continued adding that singing with SPS feels “like somebody’s strangling you,” however, and that she had “broken ribs at one point” as the result of 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.”
Recall that the 56-year-old artist, Celine first revealed her diagnosis of Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disorder that can cause shortness of breath and muscle spasms in December 2022, which led to her canceling all her impending tour dates.
While on a tour in Germany in 2008, Dion first discerned unsettling symptoms. She recounted experiencing “panic” when she couldn’t achieve certain vocal heights during rehearsals. Striving not to “disappoint” her audience, she opted to sing in a lower range and eventually concluded the performance prematurely.
Related: Celine Dion discusses her battle with Stiff-Person Syndrome and the daily challenges it brings
In response to her symptoms, the singer began a regimen of prescription medications.
“I did not know, honestly, that it could kill me,” she told Kotb. “I would take, like, for example, before a performance, 20 milligrams of Valium, and then just walking from my dressing room to backstage, [it] was gone already.”
Dion revealed that her increasing tolerance necessitated a dosage of up to 90 mg daily.
Despite these challenges, the singer remains resolute in her pursuit, particularly for the sake of her children who “already lost a parent” when her husband, René Angélil, succumbed to 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 of a life as possible,” she wrote in March. “I am deeply grateful for … all of you!”
