Celine Dion is not letting her diagnosis of Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) stop her, as she opened up about her diagnosis with the neurological disorder. The Canadian singer, 55, opened up about how she’s not going to be defined by SPS in a press release about her upcoming documentary I Am: Celine Dion. The new documentary from Sony Music Vision will focus on her recovery and journey to get back on stage.
Celine admitted that even though the battle with SPS has been hard, she’s still fighting through it to be able to perform for her fans once again. “This last couple of years has been such a challenge for me, the journey from discovering my condition to learning how to live with and manage it, but not to let it define me,” she said in a statement.
The “Ashes” singer continued and explained why she wanted to capture her struggle with SPS in the new doc, which was acquired by Amazon, both for her fans and others diagnosed with it. “As the road to resuming my performing career continues, I have realized how much I have missed it, of being able to see my fans. During this absence, I decided I wanted to document this part of my life, to try to raise awareness of this little-known condition, to help others who share this diagnosis,” she said.
Celine canceled her 2023-2024 world tour back in May 2023, when she found out that she’d been diagnosed with SPS. While the singer announced that she was “sorry to disappoint” her fans, she did explain that she was looking forward to performing once she recovers. “I’m working really hard to build back my strength, but touring can be very difficult even when you’re 100%. It’s not fair to you to keep postponing the shows, and even though it breaks my heart, it’s best that we cancel everything now until I’m really ready to be back on stage again. I want you all to know, I’m not giving up… and I can’t wait to see you again!” she said in a statement at the time.