Céline Dion has vowed to return to the stage after her diagnosis with Stiff Person Syndrome.
In a new clip from the singer’s interview with Today‘s Hoda Kotb, airing tonight, June 11 at 10pm ET, Dion declared: “I’m going back on stage. Even if I have to crawl, even if I have to talk with my hands. I will.”
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Although she only publicly revealed her battle with Stiff Person Syndrome last year, the singer first began experiencing symptoms of the rare neurological condition nearly two decades ago during the 2008 Taking Chances World Tour while in Germany.
“I started to feel like the body was getting stiffer,” she told Kotb, adding that she was very scared when she took the stage and noticed that “I started to sound more nasal.”
To compensate, she said, “We lowered the songs a little bit with the keys, and projected more nasally and hope.”
But the muscle spasms that accompanied her symptoms ultimately led to her canceling shows. “I couldn’t do this anymore. What do you want me to say? I have some? We didn’t know what was going on,” she explained. “I didn’t take the time I should have put in. Take the time to figure it out.”
After more than a decade of testing and treatment, she was finally diagnosed with the condition, which can cause stiffness in the body and limbs as well as debilitating spasms.
In an earlier excerpt from Dion’s interview with Kotb, she described what performing with Stiff Person’s Syndrome felt like, saying it was like singing while “someone is choking you.” In another segment, she explained why she ultimately shared her diagnosis: Lying for me, the burden was too much. Lying to the people who got me where I am today, I couldn’t do it anymore,” she said.
In the new clip shared Tuesday, she said it was hard at first to hear people say her name as she was still processing what was happening with her health. “I didn’t know who I was anymore, because I’m not the person I used to be anymore. I want it to be my own hero who is the best of me. Courageous… the show must go on.”
After intensive physiotherapy and vocal rehabilitation with medication, Dion is determined to perform again. “I’m Celine Dion,” she said. “Because today my voice is being heard for the first time, not just because I have to, or because I have to. Because I want that, and I miss it.”
Although Dion remained coy about when her next performance might take place, she confirmed there is a plan in place. “So we know a date is coming,” Kotb said.
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