Guaranteed a return to the stage, Celine Dion discussed in detail the last years of her fight against stiff person syndrome, during an interview granted Tuesday to Hoda Kotb, during the show Today Show. A look back at this revealing interview, while at least two other interviews, including one on TVA, will be broadcast in the coming days.
Even if she has to “crawl”, even if she has to “talk with [ses] hands”, Celine Dion will return to the stage and see her audience again. This is what she said in particular, her voice filled with emotion, during the intimate interview conducted by the co-host of the Today ShowHoda Kotb, on NBC.
“I am Celine Dion, because today my voice will be heard for the first time, not just because I have to, or because I need to. It’s because I want it and I miss it,” she said. “I’m going to get back on stage because I’m ready to do it. And my vocal cords won’t scare me, because I’m going to be ready and I’m going to be able to reach these [hautes] notes! »
For her, there is no question of letting the disease “take control”. “I believe in myself and in my courage,” added the Charlemagne diva, explaining that she hopes to be “smart” enough to know when to stop and rest this time.
I know I have a good team at the moment who will be able to tell me: “No performance tonight”. It’s going to be hard, but it will probably happen.
Celine Dion, in an interview at Today Show
The diva was all honesty and vulnerability in her responses to the host’s questions, explaining in particular that she was afraid that the diagnosis of her illness would mean the end of her career. “I was trying to survive,” Celine Dion told Hoda Kotb. As the symptoms of her illness worsened, she also had to overcome the illness of her husband, René Angélil, who died in 2016.
For a long time, she felt forced to “lie” to hide the ordeals she was going through.
Exhausted of lies
In 2022, Celine Dion announced on her social networks that she suffered from stiff person syndrome, thus putting an end to months of rumors surrounding the cancellation of her shows. During the interview with Hoda Kotb, she said she was tired of hiding the truth from the world.
His first symptoms date back almost 20 years ago. But it was in 2008, during the world tour Taking Chances, that she understood that her voice was affected. “I was in Germany, I was fine, and I had breakfast,” she said. And then my voice started to get very high and I felt like I couldn’t control it anymore, it was slipping. »
At the time, she considered canceling a concert, feeling almost unable to perform. “When I went on stage, I was very, very, very scared,” Celine Dion told the host. I was so scared that, just before going on stage, I said to my sound guy: ‘I don’t know if I can do the show. I don’t know what’s going on. » »
It took many years for the singer to understand what was happening to her, then, once the diagnosis was established, to feel at peace. “I didn’t want to live in hiding anymore… because the burden was too heavy,” she said. So I said to myself: OK, I just have to do what I have to do to do my best. But I also have to tell the world what’s happening. »
The consequences of the disease
As candid as ever, Celine Dion described in detail how she feels when the symptoms of stiff person syndrome make her suffer. “It’s like someone is strangling you,” she said. It feels like someone is pushing on your larynx and pharynx. »
For her voice, this means that she was no longer able to “raise” and “down” it as she pleased, while a feeling of “spasm in the throat” was strangling her.
The singer initially thought it was exhaustion or maybe even a simple cold. Now that she knows she wasn’t suffering from having worked too hard at the time, she told Hoda Kotb, laughing, that she was “very much looking forward to being able to work too hard”, implying new that a big comeback is to be expected.
Remember that a documentary on the singer’s health problems, entitled I am: Celine Dion, premieres June 25 on Prime Video. The film’s director, Taylor Brodsky, briefly participated in Hoda Kotb’s interview, giving her perspective on Céline’s illness. “His body was enduring something unimaginable,” she said. And I don’t know if she was aware of that. And I wasn’t even sure she was going to survive it. »
Other interviews will follow this week after this first interview given to Today Show, before the release of the documentary. Host and producer Jean-Philippe Dion indicated on Facebook that he had gone to meet the diva in Las Vegas to conduct an interview which will be broadcast on TVA on Sunday at 8 p.m. CBC News chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault has landed an exclusive interview with Céline Dion, which will air on CBC Gem and YouTube Thursday morning, then be picked up again at The National in the evening, before being the subject of a special broadcast Friday at 8 p.m.