In December 2022, the singer Céline Dion told through tears and before the entire world that she was suffering from a rare disease, that she was canceling her tour and that she was leaving the stage, it was not known whether temporarily or permanently. During this year and a half, her family has been releasing updates about how the Canadian singer is doing, but always in dribs and drabs, and she has barely said a word. Furthermore, she has not made public appearances either, other than a party in which she has accompanied her children and, by surprise, last February at the Grammys. Until now. This April, the artist has decided to reappear in a big way, with a long interview and a powerful photo session to Vogue Francewhose cover for the month of May occupies.
The photographs were taken in Las Vegas, where the artist has lived for years, but the interview was conducted with Paris via video call. Not only does Dion not give concerts (her last one was five years ago) but she hardly goes out or travels because of this illness, called rigid person syndrome, which affects her when it comes to controlling her muscles; In fact, she recognizes that one of her greatest goals is to “see the Eiffel Tower again.” When asked about how she is feeling, the vocalist responds: “I'm doing well, but it requires a lot of work. It's going day by day.” She repeats that maxim of step by step, day by day, constantly, like a mantra. She recognizes that she cannot fight the disease, because it is still inside her “and she always will be.” “I hope we find a miracle, a way to cure it thanks to scientific research, but I have to learn to live with it. That's me, now with the rigid person syndrome. Five days a week I do athletic, physical and vocal therapy. “I work on my toes, my knees, my calves, my fingers, my singing, my voice…” she explains about her treatment.
He acknowledges that when he learned the diagnosis he asked himself many questions, and he did not understand the reasons. Once the months have passed, the perspective is different. “Now I have to learn to live with it and stop questioning myself. I started asking myself: why me? What happened to me? What have I done? I am responsable? Life doesn't give you answers. You just have to live it. I have this disease for some unknown reason. I have two options: either I train like an athlete and work super hard; or I disconnect and that's it, I stay at home, listen to my songs, stand in front of the mirror and sing to myself. I have chosen to work with my whole body and soul, from head to toe, with a medical team. “I want to be as good as possible.”
Dion knows her privilege, in a country where healthcare is prohibitive for many of its citizens. “People who suffer from RPD may not have the luck or means to have good doctors and good treatments. I have those means, I have that gift. And, what's more, I have that strength within me. I know nothing is going to stop me.” It is with the love of his family and his three children, “above all,” and also of his very loyal fans and his team, that he moves forward. But she acknowledges that she still does not know if she will be able to return to the stage, which she went on when she was just a five-year-old girl, one of 13 siblings who played almost any instrument. She constantly doubts herself. “I don't know… My body will tell me. On the other hand, I don't want to wait. Living day to day is very hard morally. It's hard, I'm working very hard and tomorrow it will be even harder. Tomorrow will be another day. But there is one thing that will never stop, and that is the will. The passion. Dreams. The determination”. She is also clear that music and singing, in any case, will continue to be present: “I will love him until the day I die.”
The singer has been living in Las Vegas for more than 20 years, where she lives with her three children, the result of her relationship with the late musician René Angélil, who died in January 2016 at the age of 73, after suffering from cancer for three years. The oldest, René-Charles Angelil, was born in January 2001, and the twins Nelson and Eddy, in Palm Beach, Florida, in October 2010. She prefers to live in Nevada now because, when she had her musical residencies in the big casinos in the city, I could rehearse and perform, but also spend time with the children. “I did a residency in Las Vegas when my oldest son was one year old, 22 years ago today, and we settled here. I am 35 minutes from work. That gives me time to prepare for work, I see my team, we make jokes, we practice singing… And then, it gives me the opportunity to drive, I eat something in the car, I get home, I see my children, I sleep in my own bed… I have the best of both worlds,” the fashion icon now acknowledges, for whom it is “an honor” to do a photo shoot in a magazine like Vogue France. Even more so at 55 years old, because “no one” asked him to do so when he was 30 years old, in what he calls his “best moment.” A great collector, the artist recognizes that she has always bought and never borrowed clothes from the great designers she wears: “It is a form of respect. People pay to come hear me sing. So I pay to buy designer clothes.”
At the moment, it seems that the Canadian is making a comeback with respect to her state of health and her energy. In addition to her applauded reappearance at the Grammys last February, where she presented an award, and this cover of Vogueplans to release a documentary about his career and illness next summer. I Am: Celine Dion, as it will be titled, it will be directed by Oscar nominee Irene Taylor and can be seen on Prime Video. “As I continue on the path to resuming my career on stage, I have realized how much I have missed being able to see my followers,” he stated in February, in the statement with which he released the news. “During my absence, I decided that I wanted to document this part of my life, try to raise awareness about this little-known condition and thus be able to help others who share my diagnosis.”
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