Celine Dion said performing with stiff-person syndrome is “like somebody’s strangling you”

Celine Dion continues to share her experience with stiff-person syndrome. After canceling all her tour dates last year and opening up about her diagnosis and recovery from stiff-person syndrome, the Canadian singer is speaking publicly and on camera about the challenges she has faced.

In a clip of an upcoming interview with Hoda Kotb, Dion said that singing with the disease is “like somebody’s strangling you.” She further demonstrated to Kotb how stiff-person syndrome affects a person’s ability to talk or sing, Variety reported. Dion pressed on her throat and said, “It’s like somebody’s pushing your larynx, pharynx, this way.”

The singer continued in a restrained voice, “It’s like you’re talking like that, and you cannot go higher or lower.”

Dion also shared how the disease largely has affected her motor skills. “It feels like if I point my feet, it will stay in [that position],” Dion said. “Or, if I cook — because I love to cook — my fingers, my hands will get in position. It’s cramping, but it’s like in a position of like, you cannot unlock them.”

She has even “broken ribs at one point.”

The “My Heart Will Go On” singer was diagnosed with the rare neurological disease in 2022, leading to the cancellation of her upcoming tour dates and halting live performances as the disorder affected her ability to walk and sing. Her journey and recovery with stiff-person syndrome are documented in her new film, “I Am: Celine Dion.” It premieres on Prime Video on June 25.