Céline Dion gives news of her fight against illness in a long interview on the cover of “Vogue France”

The Quebec singer and superstar, affected by stiff person syndrome (SPR) and absent from the stages for four years, speaks at length in the new issue of “Vogue France” of which she is the splendid “cover girl”.

Diagnosed in the fall of 2022 with a rare neurological pathology, stiff person syndrome (SPR), the 56-year-old Quebec megastar is on the upswing. She gives news of her fierce daily fight against this debilitating syndrome in a long interview given to the magazine French Vogueof which she adorns the cover of the May 2024 edition, more resplendent than ever.

To the first question, “How are you ?“, she answers first “It’s okay, but it’s a lot of work. It’s one day at a time.“Illness,” she emphasizes, “is always in me and forever (…) I must learn to live with“. But there is no question of giving up. Céline Dion details the “athletic, physical and vocal therapy” which she follows five days a week.

“I have chosen to work with all my body and all my soul, from head to toe with a medical team. I want to be the best I can be. My goal is to see the Eiffel Tower again!”

Celine Dion

at Vogue France

What gives him the strength to move forward, whatever happens, is his joy and his desire to sing on stage for his audience. “Fame made me want to never give up. I was born to communicate on stage, with my team, with my voice, with my fans. It’s a sharing. I was born for this.”

Absent from the stages since 2020, Céline Dion reappeared in public on February 4, 2024 at the last Grammy Awards ceremony, where she presented the album of the year award to Taylor Swift. She received a standing ovation. Affecting approximately one in a million people, RPS syndrome causes severe pain and difficulty moving, preventing physically strenuous activities.

Evasive about an upcoming return to the stage

To the question that burns the lips of her millions of fans, that of knowing whether she will return to the stage and go on tour, the “Golden voice” remains cautious: “I can’t answer you. Because for four years, I told myself that I wouldn’t go back, that I’m ready, that I’m not ready… Today, I can’t tell you: ‘Yes, in four months. ‘ I don’t know… My body will tell me.“

In this long interview, Céline Dion looks back on her professional beginnings, forty years ago, on her meteoric rise and in particular on her collaboration with Jean-Jacques Goldman, who helped make her a star in France: “He taught me to give space to the music and the words. You can’t sing in French with English words, you can’t sing in English with French words. So he showed me how to let the words rely on the music to be able to imagine the story. (…) Singing in English takes flourishes, it takes everything to impress and I love that. Singing in French requires a lot because we want to use more subtlety. Sobriety is hard.“

Cover girl photographed in stunning couture outfits for this issue of Vogue, Céline Dion talks about her relationship with fashion and remains humble. “I am really very lucky. And I am honored to do a photoshoot for Vogue France. Because when I was at my best in my physique and my beauty, at 30, no one ever asked me.

I am very proud that at 56 years old, I am asked to reveal my beauty.”

Celine Dion

French Vogue

In her fight, the international star can count, she says, on “The love of my family and my children above all, the love of the fans too, and the support of the team around me.“She recognizes how lucky she is.”the means to have good doctors, good treatments“, and she assures him: “Nothing is going to stop me.”