‘Brave’ Celine Dion continued to perform in light of rare Stiff Person Syndrome health battle

Celine Dion has been battling a rare neurological disease for just over a year trying to ‘Go On’ as the Quebecoise singer is forced to postpone and cancel further concerts.

Celine revealed on Thursday morning that she had been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, a disorder that affects one in a million people, after she had previously had to postpone concerts in 2021 due to muscle spasms.

The It’s All Coming Back To Me Now singer has shined a light on the extremely rare condition that charities are still working on, after the illness made it too difficult for her to walk or sing on stage.

She broke the news about her health problems and her upcoming 2023 tour which was scheduled to start in February, to her 5.3 million Instagram followers.

She said: “As you know I have always been an open book, and I wasn’t ready to say anything before, but I am ready now. I’ve been dealing with health problems for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through.”

Celine continued: “These spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to.”

Celine has been in the music industry for over four decades after gaining popularity as a teen star in Quebec, Canada before reaching international fame by winning the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest.

Since then, Celine has racked up numerous number one singles and has completed 15 concert tours and two concert residencies, before her health started to decline last year.

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According to Everyday Health, Stiff Person Syndrome includes ‘progressive muscle stiffness’ and ‘repeated episodes of debilitating muscle spasms’ which can affect anyone of any age or gender, despite most cases happening to be women.

The muscle spasms first started to affect the global superstar’s performances in October 2021 when Celine announced that she had to postpone her Las Vegas residency and her then-upcoming European Tour due to her health concerns.

Stiff Person Syndrome tends to work in cycles with the condition both worsening in its severity and getting easier to manage, and so as a result Celine has managed to perform on two occasions this year, despite battling the disease.

Celine performed in June 2022 in Hamburg Germany and in the Netherlands’ Ziggo Dome in the following September.

Although these brief performances inspired hope among Celine’s fans, the My Heart Will Go On singer and her sister detailed that she was still not 100% to perform on stage despite her continued efforts to reduce the effects.

Celine’s sister, Claudette Dion, first spoke out when Celine’s illness affected her concerts in October: “She shared with me that the stage had a steep incline when she was performing that would cause problems with her muscles, legs and feet. When it comes to her muscles, I know she had to do exercises and stay in shape everyday.”

Claudette added that she was ‘confident’ Celine’s body would get used to the disorder in order to meet the huge demands of performing on stage.

As a result, Celine revealed she had been working with a sports medicine therapist to try to build back her strength, but stated it was a ‘struggle’ to return to 110%.

For more information on Celine’s rare neurological disease, please visit the National Organizations for Rare Disorders site.