Celine Dion
Celine, 56, has been candid about her struggle with stiff person syndrome (SPS)—a devastating neurological disorder causing muscle rigidity, spasms, and chronic pain. In her eye-opening Amazon Prime Video special, I Am: Celine Dion, she confessed that the medication she took to manage her condition almost killed her!
So here’s the scoop: Dion was prescribed Valium to help her perform as SPS began to mess with her singing. She admitted, “When I try to breathe, my lungs are fine. It’s what’s in front of my lungs that is rigid because of SPS.” Her voice even cracked as she sang. “I know what I want my voice to do, but it’s very difficult for me to hear.”
To keep the show going, she cranked up the Valium dosage to a staggering 80–90 mg a day. “I don’t want to sound dramatic but I could have died,” she revealed. “I needed the medicine to function—one more pill, two more pills, five more pills. The show must go on.”
Things got so tough that Celine started canceling shows, making up excuses from sinus infections to ear infections. “Sometimes I would point my microphone to the audience and make them sing,” she confessed. “There are moments where I cheated and tapped on the microphone like it was its fault. But the lie is too heavy now.”