Celine Dion has been the butt of so many jokes, often because she seems so nice that many people think it must be an act.
Dion has been a good sport all along about how she is ridiculed, most famously by Ana Gasteyer on SNL.
Céline Dion revealed Thursday morning that she’s been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare and incurable neurological disease that can cause debilitating muscle spasms.
In a tearful video posted to her Instagram account in both English and French, the Canadian singer said her condition would force her to postpone and cancel a series of upcoming concert dates.
“I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through,” Dion, 54, wrote in the posts caption. “It hurts me to tell you that I won’t be ready to restart my tour in Europe in February.”
“Recently, I’ve been diagnosed with a very rare neurological condition called Stiff Person Syndrome, which affects something like one in a million people,” she said in her video. “While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know that this is what has been causing all of the spasms that I’ve been having.”
I’ve never purchased a Celine Dion album or single. She’s not my cup of tea on that count.
But I’ve heard such amazing things about her live performances that I actually considered ponying up a decent chunk of change once to see her when I was going to be in Las Vegas. But, alas, her concerts were sold out during the time I was there.
Her time in residency during that, her second stay in Vegas, was seen by 1.74 million people.
Say what you will about her songs and lyrics, but a great many people found joy in seeing her sing in-person.