The news comes a year after Dion first revealed her struggle with stiff person syndrome.
Céline Dion’s sister Claudette has offered an update on the singer’s battle with stiff person syndrome (SPS), revealing she “doesn't have control over her muscles”.
The revelation came in an interview Claudette gave to French outlet 7 Jours (as transcribed by USA Today), where she opened up about her and her sister’s shared dream for the latter to perform once more. “In what capacity? I don't know. The vocal cords are muscles, and the heart is also a muscle. This is what gets me,” she said.
Emphasising her sister’s will, Claudette said of how Céline is emotionally affected by her condition: “What pains me is that she has always been disciplined. She always worked hard.”
Dion first spoke of her diagnosis last December, saying in a video shared on social media that she’d suffered debilitating muscle spasms due to SPS (which is described by John Hopkins Medicine as “rare autoimmune neurological disorder that most commonly causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms that come and go and can worsen over time”).
“The spasms affect every aspect of my daily life,” Dion said at the time, “sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I'm used to. I have to admit it's been a struggle. All I know is singing, it's what I've done all my life.”
As a result of her diagnosis, Dion was forced to wipe her entire slate of touring for 2023. She’s kept active as an artist, though, releasing the single Love Again – her first tune since 2019 – back in April. Claudette said in July that Céline is “working hard” to fight SPS, later conceding that the pair “can't find any medicine that works”, but remain hopeful nonetheless.
October saw Dion make her first public appearance since she shared her diagnosis, attending a hockey game in Canada.