Emily Saliers reveals incurable disorders will alter Indigo Girls vocals

Emily Saliers has put the Indigo Girls’ most essential instrument, her voice, at the center of a difficult new chapter. In a video posted to the duo’s official Instagram account on Friday, April 17, 2026, Saliers said she has been diagnosed with cervical dystonia and essential tremor, two incurable movement disorders that will alter the way she sings.

Saliers said the cervical dystonia includes torticollis, or wryneck, and makes it hard to hold her head centrally without shaking. That movement affects her throat area and singing apparatus, she said, adding that the changes are already audible. “My voice will not be what it was,” Saliers told fans, and she asked for “some grace” as the duo heads into a year of live dates. Amy Ray appeared beside her in the video.

The timing matters. The Indigo Girls are set to begin their 2026 tour on April 24 in Athens, Ohio, with spring and summer stops listed in Birmingham, Alabama; Binghamton, New York; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Tucson, Arizona; Salt Lake City; Boulder; Denver and Portland, Oregon, among other cities. The run stretches across the country, keeping the pair onstage as Saliers adapts to conditions that have no cure.

For a duo that has built a career on close harmonies and a distinctive vocal blend, the disclosure underscored how much of live performance depends on physical precision as well as range. Saliers and Ray met in elementary school in Decatur, Georgia, later formed the Indigo Girls at Emory University in 1985 and have toured regularly for more than 40 years. That longevity has made the band a fixture in American folk-rock, and it also makes Saliers’ announcement a reminder that even veteran performers can face permanent changes in the mechanics of singing.

The reaction online has been swift and supportive, with Brandi Carlile, Sara Bareilles and Sleater-Kinney among the artists applauding the duo’s honesty and perseverance. The medical context helps explain the stakes: the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says dystonia can cause muscles to move or tighten on their own and can make speaking difficult, while tremor can affect the head and vocal cords and create a shaky voice. Mayo Clinic says essential tremor commonly affects the hands, head and voice, and that cervical dystonia has no cure.

For Saliers, the challenge now is not whether she can continue performing, but how to keep singing when the body she has depended on no longer responds the same way.