Canadian pop megastar Celine Dion, who suffers from a rare neurological disorder, said in her first interview since announcing the career-sidelining diagnosis that she is well, but taking life "one day at a time." Photo: AFP
Celine Dion has objectives as she battles Stiff Person Syndrome.
“I want to be the best I can be, ” Dion says in an interview in the new edition of Vogue France. “My goal is to see the Eiffel Tower again!”
A return to live performance, someday, is also motivating the superstar resident of Lake Las Vegas. But while Dion is steadfast in her dedication to recover from the rare neurological condition, she’s less certain of when she will be able to return to the stage.
”I can’t answer that... Because for four years I’ve been saying to myself that I’m not going back, that I’m ready, that I’m not ready... ” Dion says in the Q&A piece. “As things stand, I can’t stand here and say to you: ‘Yes, in four months.’ I don’t know.... My body will tell me.”
Dion says she has not beaten the disease.
“It’s still within me and always will be. I hope that we’ll find a miracle, a way to cure it with scientific research, but for now I have to learn to live with it,” the 56-year-old superstar says. “... Five days a week I undergo athletic, physical and vocal therapy. I work on my toes, my knees, my calves, my fingers, my singing, my voice...
“I have to learn to live with it now and stop questioning myself. At the beginning I would ask myself: Why me? How did this happen? What have I done? Is this my fault?”
Dion says it’s difficult physically and mentally to combat the condition, for which there is no cure.
”I don’t just want to wait. It’s morally hard to live from day to day. It’s hard, I’m working very hard and tomorrow will be even harder,” she says. “Tomorrow is another day. But there’s one thing that will never stop, and that’s the will. It’s the passion. It’s the dream. It’s the determination.”
Representatives for AEG Presents, which books and co-produces all shows at Resorts World Theater, have not replied to requests for comment about Dion’s status. Officials have only said they remain optimistic she will perform again on the Strip.
Dion announced she suffered from SPS in December 2022, halting her plans at Resorts World and also her Courage world tour. Recently she has made several public appearances, announcing Taylor Swift as the Grammy Award-winner for Album of the Year on Feb 4 in Los Angeles, and attending a Boston Bruins-New York Rangers game at TD Bank Garden on March 21.
This has led to speculation, conversation and optimism she can return to performance at Resorts World Theatre even by the end of this year.
But Dion is not committing to that, or any, time horizon.
“The way I see it, I have two choices. Either I train like an athlete and work super hard, or I switch off and it’s over, I stay at home, listen to my songs, stand in front of my mirror and sing to myself,” she says.
”I’ve chosen to work with all my body and soul, from head to toe, with a medical team. I want to be the best I can be.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service
