Original subtitles

Speaker 1: I SCARED MYSELF!

AND MY VOCAL CHORDS WILL NOT

SCARE ME! BECAUSE I'M GONNA BE READY! AND I'M GONNA HIT THOSE

NOTES.

TONIGHT, AN NBC NEWS EXCLUSIVE:

SUPERSTAR CELINE DION SPEAKS OUT AT LAST ...ABOUT THE AGONIZING

BATTLE SHE'S HIDDEN FOR YEARS.

THE TRUTH WAS, YOU HAD A SECRET

DEEP INSIDE THE BURDEN WAS SO HEAVY.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, SHE OPENS UP

ABOUT THE RARE DISEASE THAT THREATENED HER CAREER -- AND

SILENCED HER VOICE. WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO YOUR VOICE? IT'S

LIKE SOMEBODY IS STRANGLING YOU IT'S LIKE A SPASM. SO YOUR VOICE

CLENCHES UP... CORRECT.

I HAVE BROKEN RIBS AT ONE POINT

WAIT, A SPASM--SO HARD THAT IT CAN BREAK A RIB? UH-HUH.

HER VERY LIFE IN DANGER. ALL

THAT MEDICATION COULD HAVE KILLED YOU. I DID NOT KNOW,

HONESTLY THAT IT COULD KILL ME

NOW, A POWERFUL NEW FILM TAKES

US -INSIDE- HER ORDEAL. YOU-- WERE VERY RAW AND

UNVARNISHED

THE PEOPLE. (CRIES) I MISS THEM!

(TEARY) I BELIEVE IN MYSELF, IN MY BRAVERY.

CELINE DION...AS YOU'VE NEVER SEEN HER.

(CRIES) I CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK ONSTAGE I WILL COME BACK!

"CELINE'S STORY" -- AN NBC NEWS

SPECIAL. GOOD EVENING, EVERYBODY. I'M HODA KOTB. HER

STORY IS AS EXTRAORDINARY AS HER VOICE: FOR YEARS, CELINE DION

HAS BEEN WAGING A SECRET, FEROCIOUS FIGHT AGAINST AN

INCREDIBLY RARE DISORDER -- ONE THAT'S CONSUMED HER LIFE. WELL

TONIGHT, SHE SITS DOWN WITH ME FOR AN INTIMATE AND EMOTIONAL

CONVERSATION -- TO SHARE ALL SHE'S BEEN THROUGH. SHE WAS IN

ANGUISH. AND NONE OF US EVER KNEW.

WHAT SONG DEFINES WHERE YOU ARE

RIGHT NOW?

(SIGH) COURAGE.

"I WOULD BE LYING IF I SAID I'M

FINE. I THINK OF YOU AT LEAST 100 TIMES."

IT'S NOT TRUE. I WAS NOT FINE. I'M LYING. IT'S NOT ME.

"COURAGE DON'T YOU DARE FAIL ME NOW..."

CELINE DION NEEDS COURAGE NOW

MORE THAN EVER.

FOR DECADES HER TITANIC, SOARING

VOICE HAS THRILLED FANS AROUND THE WORLD.

SHE BECAME AN ICON WITH HITS

LIKE 'MY HEART WILL GO ON'... "AND I KNOW THAT MY HEART WILL

GO ON..."

AND 'ALL BY MYSELF'...

"ALL BY MYSELF ANYMORE"

BUT FOUR YEARS AGO, THE

POWERHOUSE PERFORMANCES THAT BROUGHT JOY TO SO MANY CAME TO A

DEVASTATING, PAINFUL STOP.

I DID NOT KNOW WHO I WAS

ANYMORE, BECAUSE I'M NOT THE PERSON THAT I USED TO BE.

I WAS NOT CELINE DION.

SHE WAS SUFFERING FROM A

DEBILITATING ILLNESS.

I'VE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH A VERY

RARE NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER.

SINCE THE DIAGNOSIS CELINE HAS

LIVED LARGELY IN SILENCE. UNTIL NOW.

THERE'S A KLEENEX BOX RIGHT

THERE OH THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU!

(WIPES EYES) CAN YOU PASS ME ONE?

OH SO SORRY!

CELINE HAS NOT PERFORMED IN

PUBLIC SINCE MARCH 2020.

IN RECENT YEARS SHE'S REMAINED

MOSTLY OUT OF SIGHT, HUNKERED DOWN NEAR LAS VEGAS RAISING HER

3 SONS.

BUT SHE'S ALSO BEEN FILMING A

NEW AMAZON PRIME DOCUMENTARY ABOUT HER HEALTH BATTLE, TITLED

SIMPLY, "I AM: CELINE DION."

"I'M WORKING HARD EVERY DAY, BUT

I HAVE TO ADMIT. IT'S BEEN A STRUGGLE."

THE FILM IS A HARROWING AND RAW

LOOK AT THE 56-YEAR-OLD STAR'S STRUGGLE TO HEAL...AND TO TRY TO

SING AGAIN.

SO, MISS CELINE,I SAT AND

WATCHED YOUR PROJECT AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU I WAS SHOCKED. I WAS

SURPRISED. I HAD NO IDEA, LIKE, WHAT YOU'D BEEN THROUGH. SO WHAT

HAS LIFE BEEN LIKE FOR YOU?

IT'S BEEN UM-- VERY DIFFICULT,

VERY PAINFUL UH-- CHALLENGING, SCARY-I SPENT ALL MY LIFE IN THE

MUSIC INDUSTRY BEING A PERFORMER AND LOVING EVERY MOMENT OF IT.

THIS PASSION WILL NEVER GO AWAY. AND ONE DAY, WHILE I WAS

TOURING, BECAUSE THAT-- I NEVER STOPPED-- I STARTED TO FEEL

DIFFERENT. AND IT WAS KIND OF LIKE MY VOICE WAS SPASMIC.

CELINE SAYS SHE BEGAN HAVING

THESE VOICE SPASMS MUCH EARLIER THAN HER FANS MIGHT REALIZE

...AS FAR BACK AS 17 YEARS AGO.

WHO DO YOU GO SEE WHEN YOU HAVE

SOMETHING GOING HERE? WELL, YOU GO AND SEE AN ENT: EAR, NOSE,

AND THROAT DOCTOR.

(COUGH) WHAT IS THIS? I'M

CATCHING A COLD OR SOMETHING.

BUT THE LITTLE, COLD-LIKE

SYMPTOMS GRADUALLY GOT WORSE. SHE RECALLS ONE NIGHT IN

PARTICULAR.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE CONCERT? OR

WAS THERE A TIME WHERE YOU'RE LIKE, "THAT WAS IT?"

THIS ONE-- THIS ONE TIME. . I WAS IN TAKING CHANCES WORLD

TOUR. I WAS IN GERMANY. AND I WAS FINE, AND I HAD BREAKFAST.

AND THEN MY VOICE STARTED TO GO HIGH, AND-- AND THEN I COULDN'T

IT FELT LIKE I COULD NOT CONTROL-- IT-- I WAS SKIDDING.

(MAKES NOISE) I WAS, LIKE-- I COULD NOT

CONTROL ANYTHING. I HAD TO TAKE THE PLANE TO GO TO THE NEXT

CITY, AND I ARRIVED AT THE DRESSING

ROOM, AND I STARTED TO DO MY VOCAL EXERCISE. AND THEN AS I

WENT UP, ONE TIME, (SINGS) AND I WAS (SINGS), AND THEN (MAKES

NOISE). I COULD NOT GO BACK UP. IF YOU GO UP, YOU BETTER TAKE A

GOOD LOOK, BECAUSE YOU GONNA GO UP JUST ONE TIME TONIGHT. BUT I

HAVE 23 F-- F-- 25 SONGS TO SING.

SO WHAT HAPPENED?

WHAT HAPPENED? I HAD TO FIND A

PATH. IT WAS SQUEEZED. SO I SAID, "I'M JUST GONNA DO TWO

SONGS." NORMALLY I SING, LIKE, ALMOST AN HOUR OR 45 MINUTES FOR

A SOUND CHECK.

A CONCERT FILM FOR THAT 2008

TOUR CAPTURED CELINE COMPLAINING TO A DOCTOR ABOUT HER VOICE.

MY MAIN PROBLEM RIGHT NOW IS MY

NECK. I CANNOT RELAX MY NECK, SO I CANNOT RELAX MY VOCAL CHORDS,

SO I CANNOT VOCAL EXERCISE WELL.

IN THIS AREA HERE STARTING HERE

IS WHERE IT'S STARTING TO HURT A LITTLE BIT.

WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO YOUR

VOICE? WHEN YOU WERE TRYING TO SING AND--

IT'S LIKE SOMEBODY IS STRANGLING

YOU. IT'S LIKE SOMEBODY IS PUSHING YOUR LARYNPHARYNX THIS

WAY. (RAISES VOICE) IT WAS LIKE TALKING LIKE THAT AND YOU CANNOT

GO HIGH OR LOWER. AND IT-- IT-- IT'S A SPASM, IT'S LIKE-- OF THE

MECHANISM OF THE VOICE, OF THE VOCAL FOLDS. IT'S LIKE-- IT GETS

INTO A SPASM.

SO YOUR VOICE CLENCHES UP AND

YOU CAN'T-- CORRECT. YOU CAN'T. IT'S LIKE

THE HANDS--

YOU CAN'T GET A NOTE OUT.

--IT'S LIKE THE FEET, THE SPINE, WHATEVER.

SO WHAT DID YOU THINK? BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOUR VOICE. YOU'VE

TAKEN CARE OF YOUR VOICE SINCE YOU WERE LITTLE. YOU DID ALL THE

RIGHT THINGS.YOU DON'T TALK A LOT ON CONCERT DAYS. SO WHAT DID

YOU THINK WAS GOING ON WITH THIS--

WELL-- --INSTRUMENT?

--THAT WAS THE SCARY PART IS THAT I-- EVEN JUST BY SWALLOWING

I COULD SAY THAT IT'S LIKE A LITTLE COLD STARTING, OR JUST

BECAUSE I PUSHED TOO MUCH. IT'S THE THIRD SHOW IN A ROW.

YEAH, YOU'RE WORKIN' TOO HARD. IT'S WORKING TOO HARD. YEAH,

WORKING TOO HARD. I CAN'T-- I CAN'T WAIT TO WORK TOO HARD.

(LAUGH) TRUST ME. BUT THE THING IS THAT IT WAS DIFFERENT. IT WAS

MORE SPASMODIC THAN SOMETHING COLD..

CELINE WAS ENSNARED IN A MEDICAL

MYSTERY THAT WOULD SOON LEAVE HER DESPERATE FOR ANSWERS...AND

IN A PANIC THAT HER CAREER COULD BE OVER.

LOOKING AT THE DOCTOR, "PLEASE,

FIND SOMETHING. TELL ME I GOT SOMETHING WRONG, BECAUSE I'M--

I'M ABOUT-- I'M GONNA HAVE TO MAKE BIG DECISIONS OVER

Celine Dion says her voice has always been the conductor of

her life. Even when she was a little girl. Her voice was big

growing up in a small French Canadian town in Quebec

her 13 brothers and sisters were her first Audience

by the time she was 20 winning the famous Eurovision

competition. The world was her stage.

Her songs began topping the charts from The Power of Love.

to Because You Loved Me

She has sold more than 200 million records and broke in

the box office with concert tours around the globe. When

I started my career. I was

on top of the ladder

my head was in the cloud.

I was looking

to the Sunset and the stars and the rainbows and looking down

but on that 2008 tour she began losing. losing control of her

legendary instrument so when I went on stage

I was very very very scared.

I was scared because just before I went on stage

I asked my son man. I'm like,

I don't know if I can do the show. I don't know what's

happening at all that and I

and then you panics or more you panic more you spasm or you

spasm or your

So he said

he did not know

because it's not just like let's get some show. He said do

you want

to

cancel the show wasn't it's can we call doctor? Can we nope

everybody lived in

fear and the unknown sure. It was

blackout.

And I went on stage where she did of course and

and

I started to sound more nasal

just differently

more Reverb

little bit more. So even it my whole team had to just

do they were trying to find my voice too. So that was one of

the points where you were like this is it was a problem. It

was

and then moments where like, okay, not too bad.

Bad, yeah worse

her voice continued to waver over the next few years as she

continued to sing all over the world. I was trying to

compensate.

And find another way to have a voice

so we lowered the songs a little bit with the keys.

That's fine. That's fine. When you do a lot of shows for me.

Anyway, it was a smart thing to do you travel the world

different temperatures whether

it's okay to give you a

little down there two minutes. Okay.

I started to kind of like find

a a tunnel like to make it tighter a little bit Yeah and

and project more nasal. Ezel

and hope and help and hope

hope wasn't always enough.

She says that sometimes when her voice still wasn't working

properly. She would pretend or microphone was broken on other

night. She'd rely on the audience

to help her sing.

I was trying to survive

and

I let the people sing

with me a lot. You put the mic out like that. Yes, I could

sing along.

Yes, and I will always do that because I just love when they

do things. So so next time if you see me doing that don't

think that I'm spasming. I'll say I'm fine sing with me.

So you were doing that because it was giving you a break for

a second probably. Okay, probably

there were so many parts of the documentary. They hit me in

the soul. Like I could feel you so deep and I was always watching

and you were saying that

I had to tell the audience it was a sinus infection. It was

a throat infection.

And then you said something that struck me. You said

not telling the truth was too much to carry. I had to lie.

We did not know what was going on. I did not take the time.

I should have stopped

take the time to figure it out. My husband as well

was fighting for his own life

five years after. After her first symptoms appeared her

husband and manager Renee own Jalil began suffering from

cancer for the second time.

She put much of her life on hold to be with him.

I had to hide I had to try to be a hero. I became a nurse.

I became a supporter.

I had to

protect my kids practice my passion

feeling my body leaving me

holding on to my own dreams, but should do I

I have dreams what's going on?

I can't sing

Rene died in 2016. Just two days later celine's brother

Daniel passed away from cancer to

Celine all the things you are going through and all the loss.

It is too much to bear.

It's too much to bear Chariot at that time. Yes,

my brain hmm my personality.

It's it was The Show Must Go On sure regardless of your pain

your struggle

zilean kept going even as her symptoms were growing worse.

And then I started to feel that the body was like

getting more rigid more stiff

from City to City concert to concert doctor to doctor

every time I went to see a doctor.

After so many years

of living in like the unknown I hoped looking at the doctor,

please.

Find something

tell me I can something.

Tell me it's not between my two eyes.

Tell me I got something wrong because I'm going to have to

make big decisions over here

and in her anguish,

she would turn to something else

something that threatened to become deadly.

We tried a lot of things

trying a lot of things when you don't know what you have

EI wanted to be brave. I didn't want to let nobody down. That's

it. I did not let nobody down.

It was 2016 saline found the strength to carry on after

losing her husband and brother while also battling her own

ongoing health issues

within weeks. She was back at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas

a few months later. She was at the Billboard Music Awards

performing The Show Must Go On

That Summer she filled in for me on the Today show with

Kathie Lee Gifford. Oh don't thank you so much for not being

here

and took part in our summer concert series on the Plaza.

But behind the scenes celine's Health was failing what started

as a tight throat eventually affected her whole body at

times. She felt like she was blacking out.

I would lose it for two hours without knowing it started here.

Yeah. Nope. Okay. It's gonna be fine. Yeah,

then you have a hard time to walk and then you

you blank for two hours and you're like, oh my god

what happened? It's like a blackout kind of thing. I do

have like a drop of sugar or something you think of

Simple things. Yeah, she's

not thinking that you're gonna die.

But at one point you me, I mean you get narrow and you get into

a tunnel and you can have like

it looks like seizures then they're not seizures, but

you don't remember everything

through it. All Celine continued to take the stage

doing everything. She could to deliver that golden voice.

I don't want you to think that I was doing like crazy. Well

they work sometimes Times not crazy to

kill myself but crazy things to keep going.

Let's put it this way.

We tried a lot of things

trying a lot of things when you don't know what you have can

kill you

no bueno. Not nice,

but I was trying we were trying in order to control her

symptoms. She began taking high doses of Diazepam a drug

commonly known as Valium to relax her muscles

you are taking so much medicine because you wanted

So badly to perform for your fans. I didn't want to stop you

didn't want to say, but all that medication could have

killed you. I did not know.

Honestly that

that it could kill me. I would take like for example before

a performance

20 milligrams of Valium and just walking from my dressing

room to Backstage.

It was gone.

Oh, wow,

it's your body got that used to it. Correct. That's fast 20

minutes. She says she was taking as much as 90 milligrams

a day 90 milligrams of

Valium can kill ya

you can stop breathing.

And at one point

the thing is that my body got used to it at 20 and 30 and 40

until I went up

and

I needed that it was real. Accessing my whole body, but

for what for two weeks for a month.

Okay The Show Must Go On you go.

I'm fine.

But then

you get used to it used to its he does so worried anymore more

and more.

She just started another tour when covid suddenly shut down

everything the pandemic arrived. It was a

an opportunity for me to take a break.

To not be brave. Yeah,

and to be smart.

for the first time

She could finally Focus solely on her health.

I stopped everything with the help of doctors because when

you tapered these drugs you can you can die as well. We cannot

just like

stop everything right you had to be weaned off of it it just

so whining off all the meds in especially the bad ones the bad

ones. I stopped everything because it stopped working.

She was off the drugs,

but her symptoms progressed

so I got worse.

I was wobbling I had to hold onto chairs tables just to get

from one end of the room to the other correct

and still the doctors had no real answers.

No one wants to go and see a doctor and say I hope they find

something

everybody says, I hope I'm fine.

But I was going to be fine if they find something

that was the thing. But what are they going to find

as the world began to reopen Celine was planning to resume

her? Her World Tour and kick off. Another Las Vegas

residency. But ultimately realized she could not do it

in April of 2022. She posted a message for her fans on social

media.

I'm doing my very best to get back to the level that I need

to be

so that I can give.

100% of my shows

because that's what you deserve

the one thing that it always saved her performing for her

fans

was gone. But then in her Darkest Hour at last

an answer to what was wrong with her,

is there something that I can do for myself or is it the end

After years of struggling with mysterious muscle spasms pain

and rigidity that affected every part of her life Celine

Dion finally had an answer.

She was suffering from an autoimmune

neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome or SPS.

When did you get the diagnosis The Firm diagnosis?

And what did that feel like when you heard it?

It's very complex. It's very complex.

I wanted to from head to toe figure it out. Hmm, and

I wanted to

also figure out is there something that I can do for

myself or is it the end of my career?

SPS can cause slurred speech double vision painful muscle

contractions and stiffness. So severe patients can lose

the ability to walk

some people barely can see

and it's slow and they suffer a lot some people it's high in

the like some people in a wheelchair

for Saline. The disease has been debilitating at times.

I always felt like I was going to fall I don't want to fall.

I don't want to break a leg and I want

to hit my head. I don't want to

so is your must what happened your muscles got rich, so you

have a lot of

I will call spasms but it feels like

if I point my feet they will stay in a or if I cook

because I love to cook

my fingers. My my hands will get in a position to my feet.

It's cramping but it's like in a position of like you cannot

unlock them.

You can sometimes

but it can also be in

the abdominal can be in the spine can be in the ribs.

I had broken ribs that one point because one sometimes

when it's

very severe it can

break some spasms of hard that can break a rib

this disease.

This stiff person syndrome happens to one in a million.

It's not figurative. It's literally one person in every

million gets this

rare rare rare disorder.

Did you think to yourself of all the people?

Like why me God, what did I do? Why me?

No, you never asked that. Well.

I could have gone that route. Yeah and say

I have been working so hard on my life. Yeah, and I've done

everything that you talked to said and I've been a good girl.

Is he going to take away SP s.

Is it going to make me feel better?

Is he going to fix anything?

What is it going to do for me to question life and say why

me? Yeah instead of living my life.

Well, I decided to live my life and she no longer wanted to

hide. I didn't want to live in this bunker anymore because

the burden was so heavy

and I was like,

okay.

I need to just like

Do what I need to do to

possess. Yeah, but I need to also tell the world what's

happening I had

A proof of what's going on with me and I'm not going to say

sinus infection. It was time to tell the world what she'd been

going through for almost 20 years

have been diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder

called the stiff person syndrome.

This is what's been causing all of the spasms that I've been

having.

unfortunately

these spasms effect

every aspect of my daily life

Sometimes causing

difficulties

when I walk

and not allowing me to use.

My vocal cords to sing the way I'm used to

the announcement made headlines the Superstar opening up about

the rare disorder after facing Health struggles over

the years. She is suffering from a rare neurological disease.

Celine sought out the help of a team of Specialists including

neurologist Amanda PK who's based at the University of

Colorado and is an expert on SPS.

The episodic muscle spasms are often triggered by various

things including stress that can be a good or bad emotional

stress. So it could be doing something you love

such as singing and we can see those muscle spasms come out

ironically the very thing that brings saline so

so much joy can trigger severe pain while there is no cure for

SPS celine's doctor says

it is treatable.

You need to look at the whole person

in terms of treatment. So immune therapy is just a piece

of that that targets the autoimmune condition

and then in terms of symptomatic therapies, you have

pharmacologic therapy. So drugs that we use Muscle things that

help with the muscle spasms anti-spasmodics as well as

non-pharmacological.

Event Physical Therapy being one thing it's a disease that

that's Progressive

and it takes a while to

tweak with the medicine.

We need to tweak and that work did that not work? I gained

a lot of weight losing a lot of weight. We don't want to lose

too much weight on the game tomorrow. What do I need to do?

And I was willing to do anything possible

even with immunotherapy regular exercise and vocal

Rehabilitation coping with PS is still a challenge this

condition.

Yes,

there is no cure you will live with it your whole life. Am

I right at this moment in time this moment in time at this

moment in time. Yes. So what does it look like on

a day-to-day basis living with this condition one step at

a time? Yeah.

Anything can trigger me to have

something

too much work not enough work if I sit all day long. And

I will be wobbly walking wobbly if I ask my

athletic therapist to push me

too much. I can have

a condition and

so going through a crisis over working can be harmful,

correct? Okay happiness sound

a touch unexpected.

Hmm, so I don't want to read it. Thanks so much about this,

but I have to be aware of it.

A medical crisis can hit at any time and when it does

it can be terrifying

her body was enduring something that was unimaginable

and I wasn't sure if she was aware of it and I wasn't sure

if she was

(SINGING)

IS THE SOUND MAN OKAY? EVEN BEFORE HER

DIAGNOSIS, CELINE HAD BEEN WORKING ON A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT

HER LIFE...

MY VOICE . . . IS THE CONDUCTOR

OF MY LIFE.

CAMERAS KEPT ROLLING AS HER

ILLNESS PROGRESSED. THE FILM PREMIERES ON PRIME VIDEO JUNE

25TH. THE TITLE OF YOUR DOCUMENTARY IS

I AM. LET'S FILL IN THAT SENTENCE. "I AM--"

I AM CELINE DION. IT'S

INTIMIDATING FOR ME TO SAY MY NAME, BECAUSE I HEAR IT A LOT.

"OH, THIS IS CELINE DION. OH, THIS IS CELINE D--" AND WHEN

YOU'RE NOT WELL, I DIDN'T WANNA HEAR MY NAME. I DID NOT KNOW WHO

I WAS ANYMORE, BECAUSE I'M NOT THE PERSON THAT I USED TO BE.

WHY DO THIS FILM, AT ALL?

BECAUSE WHAT IF I JUST COME HERE

TODAY, FOUR YEARS LATER, AND SAY, "WELL, I'M GONNA BE (CLAP)

COMING OUT WITH A NEW ALBUM. "WHY DID YOU WAIT FOR SO LONG?

DO I'M GOING TO KEEP THIS, SECRETLY?

I'M WORKING HARD EVERY DAY AND I

HAVE TO ADMIT IT'S BEEN A STRUGGLE I MISS IT SO MUCH. THE

PEOPLE, I MISS THEM.

YOU-- WERE VERY RAW AND

UNVARNISHED, NOT-- NO MAKEUP. YOU WERE JUST BEING YOU, 100%.

DID YOU HAVE ANY HESITATION TO DO IT LIKE THAT?

IF I WOULD HAVE HAD AN--

HESITATION, I WOULD HAVE HAD MAKEUP ON. (LAUGH)

IT'S NOT ABOUT MAKEUP. IT'S NOT

ABOUT WHAT I'M GONNA BE WEARING TONIGHT. I'VE BEEN WEARING THE

SAME FREAKIN' PAJAMA FOR FIVE YEARS. (LAUGH) AND IT'S ONE OF

MY FAVORITE. I DON'T CARE.

IRENE TAYLOR IS THE FILM'S

DIRECTOR... SHE WAS ABLE TO CAPTURE SOME

UNGUARDED MOMENTS. IRENE TAYLOR I THINK THAT THE

RAW AND INTIMATE NATURE OF THE FILM IS REALLY BECAUSE CELINE

LET ME IN.

CELINE...CELINE...

911 WHAT'S YOUR EMERGENCY?

TAYLOR WAS WITH CELINE WHEN SHE SUFFERED ONE OF HER SERIOUS

MEDICAL ATTACKS...

THERE IS A SCENE THAT I THINK IS

GONNA SHOCK MOST PEOPLE WHO SEE THIS FILM. IT SHOCKED ME. IT--

IT SHOWED, IN REAL TIME, WHAT THIS DISEASE LOOKS LIKE. IT

SHOWS HOW IT HAPPENS. YOU'RE WITNESSING IT. TELL ME WHAT THAT

WAS LIKE FOR YOU IN THAT POSITION, SEEING THAT GO DOWN.

IT JUST STARTED. AND IT WAS VERY

QUICK. SHE WAS GIGGLING. AND FIVE SECONDS LATER, WE WERE IN A

TOTALLY DIFFERENT STRATOSPHERE. WHAT WAS HAPPENING? DESCRIBE IT.

WELL, SHE HAD A CRAMP IN HER

FOOT. AND I THOUGHT, "THAT DOESN'T LOOK RIGHT."

WITHIN MINUTES, CELINE COULD NOT

SPEAK, THE MUSCLES IN HER WHOLE BODY COMPLETELY STIFFENED.

I'VE NEVER TOLD YOU THIS, BUT IT

WAS THE MOST-- EXTRAORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARILY UNCOMFORTABLE

MOMENT IN MY LIFE, IN MY LIFE, AS A FILMMAKER BUT ALSO AS A

MOTHER, AS A-- AS A FELLOW HUMAN, BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW

WHAT WAS HAPPENING. WE WERE THIS CLOSE. WE WERE THIS CLOSE. AND

HER BODY WAS ENDURING SOMETHING THAT WAS UNIMAGINABLE. AND I

WASN'T SURE IF SHE WAS AWARE OF IT. AND I WASN'T SURE IF SHE

WAS-- GOING TO SURVIVE IT.

I'M SORRY THAT IT WAS HARD.

OH. NOT AS HARD AS-- AS IT WAS

FOR YOU.

CELINE'S TEAM ADMINISTERED

MEDICATION AND SHE QUICKLY RECOVERED. IT'S SOMETHING SHE -

AND HER FAMILY - HAVE HAD TO LEARN TO LIVE WITH.

WHAT DID THIS DISEASE TAKE AWAY

FROM YOU?

IT DIDN'T TAKE ANYTHING AWAY

FROM ME. IT GOT ME KNOWLEDGE. IT GAVE ME A RESPONSIBILITY, AS A

MOTHER, FIRST OF ALL, TALK TO YOUR KIDS. LET THEM KNOW THAT

YOU WILL NOT DIE. "YES, DAD IS IN HEAVEN AND HE'S FINE. MOM IS

GONNA BE OKAY.

CELINE CONTINUES TO TAKE ONE

STEP AT A TIME... READY TO MOVE HEAVEN AND EARTH FOR HER

ULTIMATE GOAL: A COMEBACK. HOW CLOSE IS SHE?

(SNIFF) I'M NOT GONNA SCARE MY

FANS. I'M NOT GONNA COME HOME TONIGHT AND TELL MY KIDS THAT I

HAD TO STOP THE SHOW. I'M GONNA COME ONSTAGE BECAUSE I'M READY.

The one here do I still have y have for all she's been through

there's one thing Celine has definitely not lost. Hey, what

a difference. No, I got

her sense of humor.

Oh my gosh. Hi. Johnny

Hey Joe. What's up friends? She's a superstar who's

remarkably down-to-earth a free spirit who is grateful to be

free again.

You mentioned that you were.

In a bunker for four years. Are you out of the bunker?

Right how you're out of the bunker washes out

the freak is she goes she's freaked out is that I'm not in

a bunker. It does not occur. But are you done are you done

yet?

The bunker is like me

being trapped in the

unknown. That's the bunker out of her bunker and ready to take

a major step.

I'm going to go back on stage.

even if I have to crawl,

even if I have to

Talk with my hands.

I will.

I will.

I am Celine Dion

Because today

my voice

will be heard

for the first time.

Not just because I have to or because I need to

it's because I want to

and I miss it. You can see it. You can see yourself on stage

like Avila Lucy you can imagine it. It's going to happen.

You better be ready. But tell me what color you will be

wearing when you come see my show. Can you imagine we dress

again the same color a girlfriend?

But this time she says will be a little different the show

doesn't always have to go on I believe in myself

in my bravery

and I believe that I am smart

at 56 if I'm not smart and say I cannot go on hmm tonight.

I know that I have a good team right now. That's a

no show tonight.

It's going to be hard.

It will probably happen

saline is determined no matter what

to get her voice back.

I'm not gonna scare my fans.

I'm not going to come home tonight

and tell my kids that I had to stop the show.

I'm going to come on stage because I'm ready

and my vocal cords

will not scared me

because I'm gonna be ready

and I'm going to hit those notes

because they will not control my life

because I am not brave. I am smart

and I can't wait

to go back on stage and hit whatever I can hit.

I will.

Come back and have a wonderful time.

Yes,

so I don't want to be scared of myself and questioning my

music my songs.

I don't

I don't because music is a language.

And it's in everybody's life.

It's a Kleenex box right now. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Sorry, that's okay

as I heard for myself. There is no doubt. She's making progress

I believe.

I believe

I did I get here.

I've been thinking about you more than I want to

I Can't Stop Singing you can't put them so sorry. No, I love

my

favorite interview. The boy you seem happier. I feel ya

so leans Journey has been long. But if anything she's resilient

is your voice. a hundred percent back

I would say not 100% back.

Yeah, but I'm 100% on it your 100% on it

that you like.

What is your message for your fans have been waiting all this

time?

I want you

to come

and see me again. I would like to invite you

to sing with me again.

You've been my supporters for so many years.

Sometimes I thought

maybe

Maybe they've got

you know, did you really worried? They'd forget you. Did

you really worry about that? Well worry in a way that do

they realize

how much how much did they are part of

the show

the adrenaline? And the that what we need?

I just can't wait. I just can't when do you think you'll be on

stage again? The question is?

I don't know. Can I say John when John when can she be on

say okay. She said she's not allowed to say because it's

soon in other words stay tuned Celine. Meanwhile

is staying positive. What song makes you the happiest

when you're sent when you're just what put you in a good mood.

She's back. Alright and ready for what lies ahead

to tomorrow tomorrow.

I'll sing for you tomorrow.

As long as the Drone

is there.

Our thanks to Celine for all of her Candor and for her humor to

the biggest dream. Now, she says a cure

I'm Hoda Kotb for all of us at NBC news.