Dion discusses long-term health issues ahead of Paris residency

Céline Dion has revealed that she endured nearly 17 years of debilitating symptoms from stiffperson syndrome before receiving a diagnosis in August 2022. The 58-year-old singer shared the details in a cover story for Harper's Bazaar Global Icons, explaining that she frequently attributed canceled shows to common illnesses like sinus infections while privately struggling with severe pain and muscle spasms that at times left her unable to walk. The revelation comes as she prepares for her first major headlining concerts in over six years.

According to Dion, symptoms of the rare neurological disorder began around 2005 but were unexplained for nearly two decades. Stiffperson syndrome, or SPS, causes severe muscle stiffness and often painful spasms, affecting roughly one in a million people. "It is a progressive condition," Dion told the magazine. "I don't like to say disease." She described how the pain could become so debilitating that she relied on high doses of the medication Valium simply to function. In the years leading up to her diagnosis, which she publicly announced in an emotional Instagram video in December 2022, Dion also withdrew from public view, concerned that fans...