Celine Dion has shared details of her health struggles with Stiff Person Syndrome, in a new trailer for her upcoming documentary.
The Canadian singer announced she had been diagnosed with the rare neurological condition, which causes muscle stiffening and spasming, in 2022.
“I wasn’t ready to say anything before,” Dion says of her illness in the trailer, “but I’m ready now.”
The new documentary, called I Am: Celine Dion, will offer a behind-the-scenes look at how Dion copes with her illness, and the lengths she has gone to to keep performing.
The 56-year-old was forced to cancel her Las Vegas residency in 2021, as well as her world tour the following year.
“I’m working so hard every day,” the singer says tearfully in the trailer, “It’s not hard to do a show. It’s hard to cancel a show.”
“I miss it so much. The people, I miss them,” she continues, but says she is determined to perform again: “If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl. I won’t stop.”
Fans responded to the trailer, with one commenting on YouTube: “This is just the trailer, but I’m already crying like a baby.”
“I started to cry from the first second of this video,” wrote another, “what a powerful woman.”
As snippets of Dion’s music play in the trailer, she says: “My voice is the conductor of my life. When your voice brings you joy, you’re the best of yourself. I need my instrument.”
Further clips show the My Heart Will Go On singer doing physiotherapy, interspersed with clips of her old concerts.
In December, Dion’s sister Claudette said the singer was no longer in control of her muscles.
In January, Dion said that although the condition was a “challenge”, she was “learning how to live with and manage it, but not let it define me.”
She added that she was making the documentary to “try to raise awareness of this little-known condition, to help others who share this diagnosis.”
The documentary will be released on Prime Video on June 25.
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Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
