Céline Dion Describes the Effect Stiff-Person Syndrome Has on Her Voice: ‘Like Somebody’s Strangling You’

“It’s like somebody is pushing your larynx/pharynx,” Dion told Hoda Kotb in an interview airing in full on Tuesday, June 11

Céline Dion is getting candid about the impact stiff-person syndrome has had on her voice.

The five-time Grammy winner, 56, opened up about her condition to NBC News’ Hoda Kotb, in what will be her first televised interview about her health since revealing her diagnosis in 2022,

“It’s like somebody is strangling you. It’s like somebody is pushing your larynx/pharynx,” she said in a preview from the conversation that aired on the Today show Friday, June 7, raising her voice to demonstrate the effect. “It was like talking like that, and you cannot go high or lower.”

“It gets into a spasm,” Dion continued. “It started [in the throat]. [And I thought], ‘No, okay, it’s gonna be fine.’ But it can also be the abdominal, can be in the spine, can be in the ribs.”

EXCLUSIVE: In an interview with TODAY’s Hoda Kotb, Céline Dion is shedding light on her health and how seriously her stiff person syndrome has affected her ability to sing.

Céline Dion’s full conversation with Hoda will air on June 11 on @NBC. pic.twitter.com/kvsVX8ZjDt

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 7, 2024

She went on to note that the stiffness can sometimes feel like it’s locked into place.

“It feels like, if I point my feet, they will stay in [that position],” said the “Power of Love” singer.
Or, if I cook — because I love to cook — my fingers, my hands, will get in position. … It’s cramping but it’s like in a position where you cannot unlock them.”

“I have broken ribs at one point because sometimes when its very severe, it can break,” she said.

In December 2022, Dion revealed that she’d been diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, a rare and incurable neurological disease that can cause debilitating muscle spasms, and caused her to cancel all upcoming performances.

As the vocal powerhouse said at the time, “Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life … sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to.”

“All I know is singing,” she added. “It’s what I’ve done all my life. And it’s what I love to do the most.”