Céline Dion shared details of living with Stiff Person Syndrome, revealing the condition sometimes feels “like somebody strangling you” while talking with Hoda Kotb on “Today.”
“It’s like someone is pushing your larynx,” she shared in a Friday preview. “So it’s like you’re talking like that, and you cannot go high or lower. It gets into a spasm.”
Dion announced her diagnosis with Stiff Person Syndrome – a rare autoimmune neurological disorder that impacts muscle stiffness – in 2022. That update came a year after she suddenly canceled her residency in Las Vegas, with cancellations for her 2023 and ’24 Courage World Tour dates following suit.
“If I cook, because I love to cook, fingers and my hands will get into a position that you cannot unlock them,” Dion explained. “I had broken ribs at one point because sometimes when it’s very severe, it can break some ribs as well.”
However, the syndrome hasn’t stopped Dion entirely. She made a surprise appearance at the 66th Grammy Awards earlier this year to thunderous applause, where she presented Album of the Year to Taylor Swift.
“I love you right back,” Dion said. “When I say I’m happy to be here, I really mean it from my heart. Those who have been blessed enough to be here at the Grammy Awards must never take for granted the tremendous love and joy that music brings to our lives and to people all around the world.”
Dion herself has six Grammys — including Album of the Year for 1997’s “Falling Into You.” A documentary about the icon and her illness, titled “I Am: Céline Dion,” is set to released June 25.
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