Celine Dion has cancelled dates on her European tour after being diagnosed with an incurable neurological condition.
On Thursday, the singer posted a video of herself in tears to her Instagram, revealing that she suffers from Stiff Person Syndrome, which affects “every aspect of my daily life”.
The 54-year-old began: "As you know I’ve always been an open book and I wasn’t ready to say anything before but I am ready now.
“I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time and it’s been really difficult for me to face my challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through.”
She explained that she’d recently been diagnosed with “a very rare neurological disorder called Stiff Person Syndrome which affects around one in a million people”.
She continued: “While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know this is what’s been causing all the spasms I’ve been having.”
The My Heart Will Go On star added that the condition impedes not only her ability to carry out everyday activities, but also her ability to perform and sing.
“Unfortunately, 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,” she said.
The star then admitted that it “hurt” her to announce that her tour would not resume in February.
Dion has cancelled eight of her summer shows that were scheduled for 2023, and rescheduled her Spring 2023 shows to 2024.
The star has had to cope with not only her ongoing health issues, but also those of her late husband René Angélil, who was also her longtime manager.
In 2016, Angélil died aged 73, from a continuous battle with throat cancer.
The pair were married for 21 years.
