Céline Dion reveals fears, hope around health issues in NBC interview
Céline Dion wishes she had stopped earlier to figure out why her body was failing her, the singer told NBC News in an exclusive interview.
Speaking to Hoda Kotb in an interview preview that aired Tuesday morning, the Canadian singer shared information about the disease she has been struggling with for nearly two decades.
Dion, 56, revealed in 2022 she has a rare neurological condition called stiff-person syndrome (SPS) that affects how she walks and sings.
In the segment, Dion said she did not pursue a diagnosis immediately because her husband, René Angélil, was dying of throat cancer and she was trying to raise her children. Eventually, she said, the burden of lying — telling those around her that everything was okay — became too much, especially when it came to her fans.
'I was very, very, very scared'
She described the moment in 2008 when she finally acknowledged to herself that something was deeply wrong.
"I was in Taking Chances world tour, I was in Germany. I said to my assistants and my people ... 'I don't know if I can do the show, I don't know what's happening,'" she said. "I was very, very, very scared."
Dion continued to sing and tour for much of the next 15 years, though altering her singing style and lowering the key of some songs — occasionally citing benign health issues as the reason for missing the odd show. Eventually, she announced her diagnosis and first rescheduled, then cancelled her Courage world tour.
The pop icon behind My Heart Will Go On, If You Asked Me To and Because You Loved Me has won 20 Juno Awards and was among the first to be honoured on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto, in 1999. In Tuesday's interview, she pledged to return to the stage.
"Even if I have to crawl, even if I have to talk with my hands, I will," she said. "I will."
Dion's full interview will air as a prime-time special tonight on NBC on Tuesday night. Dion also sat down with CBC News chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault in an English Canadian exclusive. Their conversation will stream Thursday morning on Gem and YouTube, as well as air on The National that evening and as a prime-time special on CBC Television on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
A documentary about her life and health issues, I Am: Céline Dion, will stream on Prime on June 25.
