Celine Dion Has to Lower Her Vocal Register When She Suffered Stiff-Person Syndrome Symptoms

Celine Dion has revealed how much she has gone through ever since she was diagnosed with Stiff-Person Syndrome.

In an emotional interview with Hoda Kotb, Dion tearfully recalled the time she decided to adjust her voice to continue singing.

"I went on stage and I started to sound more nasal," she remembered one of her previous performances. "I could say, 'It's a little cold starting' or 'It's the third show in a row.' 'You're working too hard.' But the thing is, it was different. I started to feel like the body was more rigid."

Dion revealed that as early as her 2008 Taking Chances World Tour, she had already started experiencing the symptoms of the syndrome.

"I said to my assistants and to my people, 'I don't know if I can do the show,'" she recounted. "I was very, very, very scared. And then you panic, and the more you panic, the more you spasm."

She also revealed that she had to sing at a different vocal register to compensate.

"We lowered the songs a little bit with the keys," Dion shared. "I did my very best because my fans accepted my invitation and I did not know what to tell them. 'I will do my best tonight?' No. You're going to give your all or you don't come at all."

Dion detailed what performing was like, and then the spasms took over. According to her, it feels like "somebody is strangling you. It's like somebody is pushing your larynx/pharynx."

The "It's All Coming Back To Me" singer is giving her loyal fans an exclusive sneak peek into her emotional health journey in the upcoming Prime Video documentary I Am: Céline Dion.

In May 2024, Kotb teased what fans could expect in her interview with Dion.

"Céline Dion at some point-she is now much better-but at some point she almost died," Kotb claimed, as captured by E! News Online. "It was so jarring to me and moving-I couldn't believe what they were able to capture in that documentary."

Watch the snippet of Kotb's exclusive interview with Dion below.

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Celine Dion