Photo Credit: RepliCarter / CC by 3.0
Rolling Stone has released a list of its 200 greatest singers of all time. Celine Dion fans are miffed about her exclusion.
The magazine reiterates that this is a ‘greatest singers’ list rather than a ‘greatest voices’ list; but there are some notable exclusions. “I’ve never seen an entire list get invalidated on one omission so quickly in my life,” one tweet about the list reads.
“Respectfully, not including Celine Dion, arguably the best vocal technician of all time, in this list is borderline treasonous,” reads another tweet.
Of course, not everyone was salty with the magazine’s selections. The Korea Times celebrated the inclusion of IU and Jung Kook (BTS) on the list. IU was ranked 135, and Jung Kook 191. Rolling Stone considered each act’s originality, influence, and depth of the artists’ catalog and the “breadth of their musical legacy” for the selection. That last bit is where most Celine Dion fans are miffed about her exclusion from the list–she’s a five-time Grammy winner and Las Vegas residency extraordinaire.
In December 2022, Celine Dion revealed she was diagnosed with a rare disorder called stiff-person syndrome. It’s a neurological disease that can cause muscle spasms, making it impossible to do daily activities–much less perform on stage. Due to the diagnosis, Celine Dion postponed her series of upcoming concert dates.
“Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life,” the singer told her fans in her tearful message on social media. “Sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to.”
“I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through. It hurts me to tell you that I won’t be ready to restart my tour in Europe in February,” the singer adds.