Indigo Girls' member reveals incurable medical disorder affecting her voice

Local News Indigo Girls' Emily Saliers reveals incurable medical disorder: "My voice will not be what it was" By Dan Raby Dan Raby Senior Digital Producer, CBS News Atlanta Dan Raby, the senior digital producer for CBS News Atlanta, has been covering everything happening around Georgia for more than a decade. Read Full Bio Dan Raby April 20, 2026 / 11:31 AM EDT / CBS Atlanta Add CBS News on Google Emily Saliers, one-half of the Atlanta folk duo the Indigo Girls, has revealed that she has been diagnosed with two incurable movement disorders that will forever change the way that she sings.Saliers and Amy Ray posted a video on Instagram on Friday in which the singer acknowledged that many of her fans have noticed "that my voice is not what it once was."Saliers revealed that he had been diagnosed with cervical dystonia with torticollis, a rare neurological disorder in which the brain sends signals that cause involuntary muscle contractions in the neck."It's impossible for me to hold my head centrally without shaking," she said. Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls performs onstage at Ravinia on August 11, 2024, in Highland Park, Illinois. Natasha Moustache / Getty Images The other disorder, described by Saliers as harder for her, is an essential tremor, which she says causes involuntary shakes and movements in her jaw, throat, and diaphragm. Because of the condition, Saliers says she now has a vibrato in her singing, which she calls "horrible.""I am completely physically unable to hold a straight tone the way I used to, and this is what you, our community, have come to, I think, appreciate and love about our harmonies is the way we can hold long straight tones together," she said.Saliers said that she was doing everything she could to mitigate the disorders, including therapeutic massage, physical therapy, acupuncture, and Botox shots in her neck and shoulders. She is also working with a vocal coach who specializes in the type of disorders. "Unfortunately, there is no cure...