An emotional Celine Dion has revealed she has been diagnosed with a rare neurological illness as she cancelled her upcoming tour dates.
The five time Grammy Award winner made the announcement via an Instagram video, announcing that she has a condition called Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) — a rare disease which causes fluctuating muscle stiffness and muscle spasms.
“Recently I’ve been diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder called the stiff person syndrome, which affects 1 in a million people," the 54-year-old singer said.
"While we're still learning about this rare condition, we now know this is what's been causing all of the spasms that I've been having.
"Unfortunately these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal chords to sing the way I'm used to."
According to the Johns Hopkins Medical Centre, SPS effects approximately 1 in one million people.
Dion announced she would be unable to restart her Courage world tour in Europe in February as planned, cancelling eight tour dates and rescheduling to 2024.
The Canadian, famous for her power ballads, was due to tour in Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Austria and the UK.
Earlier this year, Dion also cancelled the North American leg of her tour, which was due to start in March this year, following performances in Canada and America in 2020.
She also cancelled plans to return to Las Vegas, where she had previously performed a series of residencies at Caesars Palace.
She told fans in the video she was working with a medical therapists to build back her strength and ability to perform again.
"I always give 100 per cent when I do my shows, my condition is not allowing me to give you that right now," she said.
"For me to reach you again I have no choice but to concentrate on my health at this moment and I have hope that I'm on the road to recovery.
“This is my focus and I’m doing everything I can to recuperate."
She thanked her fans for their well-wishes on social media and her children for their support.
