Harper’s BAZAAR September 2026 "Icons" Issue
Céline Dion is an open book: “I’m honest, and it’s not always pretty…”
As the pop icon makes her highly anticipated return to the stage, she talks candidly about the devastating health crisis that nearly derailed her career
Somewhere in the bowels of Palms Casino Resort, just off the Las Vegas Strip, is a recording studio that has seen countless victories. Michael Jackson laid down tracks for the reissue of his seminal Thriller album here; Lady Gaga recorded Harlequin, the first compelling concept album tied to a Hollywood film in years. One evening in June, though, something even more extraordinary is happening: Céline Dion is doing Pilates. She stands with her leg up on a ballet barre, wearing a nude leotard with a lace-trimmed high neck. The singer is lithe and poised, her hair in a perfect bun, mascara coating her lashes. With ease, she slides her leg along the barre, stretching into a wide split.
This victory is hard-won: in 2022, Dion was diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome (SPS), an extremely rare autoimmune neurological disorder that can cause muscle stiffness tantamount to paralysis. At times, she 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 and quoting Home Alone: “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.)
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