Celine Dion has opened up about her life with stiff-person syndrome, revealing that she would sometimes need to take high doses of Valium to function.

The musician, who is currently preparing to return to the stage more than six years after her last concert, was diagnosed with the rare condition in 2022.

Stiff-person syndrome, sometimes abbreviated to SPS, is a neurological disorder that affects roughly one in a million people, mostly between the ages of 20 and 50, the majority of whom are women.

Symptoms often include painful stiffness of the muscles, and spasms, which can be triggered by touch or noise. It is progressive, with symptoms sometimes increasing in severity to the point where it can affect the person’s ability to walk.

In a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar, it was revealed that Dion had been “at times” in “such debilitating pain that she could barely walk” and would on some days “have to take a high dose of Valium simply to function”.

“It is a progressive condition,” Dion said. “I don’t like to say ‘disease.’”

The “My Heart Will Go On” singer’s diagnosis came after years of worsening, unexplained symptoms; after it was confirmed that the cause was stiff-person syndrome, Dion began an intense programme of rehabilitation, that included medication, physical therapy, vocal therapy, and immunotherapy. (The condition is believed to be rooted in the autoimmune system.)

Dion announced back in March that she would be finally returning to the stage, framing the decision as a present to herself on her 58th birthday.

“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 wrote on Instagram, in a message to her fans.

Starting next month, Dion will begin a residency in Paris, performing more than a dozen dates at the Plenitude Arena (known as the Paris La Défense Arena until recently), Europe’s largest indoor music venue. Tickets sold at such a pace that she has already arranged to return in May 2027 for a three-week residency.

“It’s been so long, I would like to offer [my fans] something to show how I’ve missed them,” Dion said, in the interview with Harper’s.

The residency represents Dion’s first full-length concerts since the pandemic, though she did perform one song at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and two songs at the 1001 Seasons of Elie Saab event later that year.