Something nice: Celine Dion’s health is improving. In 2022, Celine was diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome following years of declining health. For years, she could barely walk, and she was popping painkillers just to function at any level. Celine covers the September issue of Harper’s Bazaar to let her fans know that she’s coming back and she’s doing better. She’s been exercising and working on her mobility. Within the interview, she’s doing Pilates, she’s stretching and moving around. It sounds like she’s done a huge amount of flexibility training. Some highlights from Bazaar:
Dealing with stiff-person syndrome: [It’s an] extremely rare autoimmune neurological disorder that can cause muscle stiffness tantamount to paralysis. At times, Dion was in such debilitating pain that she could barely walk. Some days, she’d have to take a high dose of Valium simply to function. “It is a progressive condition. I don’t like to say ‘disease.’ Disease makes you go like this,” she says, scrunching her nose: “ ‘Kevin, you’re such a disease.’ ” Though she has the bearing of royalty, Dion has the personality of a Muppet, never leaving much time between cracking a joke or Tetris-ing her body into another position. (Because SPS can freeze her muscles into place, she likes to keep moving.)
Returning to performing: Now that Dion can finally perform again, it is as if her life, a lost item, has been returned to her. She announced the news in an Instagram post in March, calling it a 58th-birthday present to herself: “This year, I’m getting the best birthday gift of my life. I’m getting the chance to see you, to perform for you.” She said she was feeling strong, excited, and a little nervous but ready to come back. Tickets sold so quickly that she has already started selling dates for a three-week residency in May 2027. “It’s been so long, I would like to offer them something to show how I’ve missed them,” Dion says.
As her condition got worse, she embraced nature: “I love trees so much, and I had this vision of myself trying to disappear through the leaves,” she says. But it was fall, and the leaves fell, so everyone could see her, their baskets in hand. She couldn’t produce the apples they’d always come to her for. “I was trying to tell them, I’m sorry, I don’t have any apples to give you anymore.” Then she heard a voice: “But we did not come for the apples; we came for the tree.”
Her three goals: “I wanted to sit straight, and I could not. I basically sat like this.” She hunches her back briefly, then ambles back into the chair, settling with her legs crossed. The others were to have the ability to touch her toes and to do splits. Now she can do all three.
How she’s preparing for her shows: After her diagnosis, Dion committed to intense rehabilitation: new meds, physical therapy, vocal therapy, immunotherapy. There are no FDA-approved treatments for the condition, so in 2024 her foundation donated $2 million for research into autoimmune neurological disorders. In preparation for the Paris shows, Dion is doing 90-minute Pilates sessions three times a week; on two other days, she takes ballet classes with a local company.
Why her fans love her so much: She tuts while she thinks. “It’s got to be because I’m an open book,” she says. As if on cue, the lights flicker. She has to be this way, she explains; if she kept everything to herself, she couldn’t be herself. She couldn’t live her life. “I’m honest, and it’s not always pretty,” she says. “Sometimes it’s happy things, sometimes it’s sad, but it’s called life.” No one knows this more than her. “Instead of questioning life, can you live life? So I’m living my life, girl. I’m living the life.”
At one point, Bazaar basically says that Celine treats her concerts like a sacred covenant with her fans, and that she would literally do anything to get back on stage just to perform for them. I have to point out, this is not about her fans demanding this from her. Her fans want her to rest and not feel pain. Celine is the one pressuring herself to get back on stage and deliver. That is what has driven her for years, to get to this point. She set these goals for herself. Celine really is one of one – we’ll never see anyone like her again. I hope she doesn’t overexert herself!
Following a devastating health crisis that nearly derailed her career, @celinedion is back and better than ever as she coasts into her next era. Starting in September, the global icon will take over Paris with a five-week residency. As she embarks on this next chapter, Bazaar… pic.twitter.com/fD1KAze9PG
— Harper’s BAZAAR (@harpersbazaarus) August 18, 2026
As #CelineDion prepares to return to the stage following the devastating health crisis that nearly derailed her career, the pop icon is ready to show the world that her heart does too. Click the link for the full story: https://t.co/wnuwQAvQ43. pic.twitter.com/9qvRY7xP4A
— Harper’s BAZAAR (@harpersbazaarus) August 18, 2026
Cover & tweets courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar.
I’m so glad you covered this! She has three different covers and they are all AMAZING. Gorgeous photos and I’m glad she’s feeling better and also hope she doesn’t overdo it.
We’re going to the first show in Paris, on September 12. How my DH managed to get the tickets… no idea.
And while Céline is absolutely not the kind of music I usually listen to, it’s *Céline*.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for her health to remain stable enough to perform. It’s what she’s been itching to do ever since the Olympics.
Love her – she’s a Godess. She has always lived for performing live so this doesn’t surprise me plus she’s clearly a goal oriented person and all the prep she’s doing is helping her manage the condition.
I 💖 that she is doing better! It 💔 that folks like me & her have these rare autoimmune disorders but don’t have the💲 that’s needed to get the uber expensive drug therapies that can make life worth living…THAT’S what I deal with EVERY second of EVERY day😱😭
She is an amazing strong woman. I can’t imagine the kind of pain that she is in sometimes.