Céline Dion returned to the stage for the first time since sharing her diagnosis with stiff-person syndrome, performing during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Dion, 56, stood at the base of the Eiffel Tower for the powerful performance, which she performed in French, after the torch lighting. The beautiful show by Dion brought Olympic correspondent Kelly Clarkson to tears.
Dion’s performance also served as her Olympics comeback after previously opening the 1996 games in Atlanta with a rendition of “The Power of the Dream.”
As for her recent hiatus, the singer revealed her diagnosis with the “very rare neurological disorder” known as stiff-person syndrome in December 2022.
“I’ve always been an open book and I wasn’t ready to say anything before, but I’m ready now,” she said in an Instagram video at the time. “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.”
Dion explained that her illness triggers “spasms” that “affect 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.”
“I have a great team of doctors working alongside me to help me get better and my precious children, who are supporting me and giving me hope,” she continued. “I’m working hard with my sports medicine therapist every day to build back my strength and my ability to perform again, but I have to admit it’s been a struggle.”
Dion concluded that she had “no choice but to concentrate on my health at this moment, and I have hope that I’m on the road to recovery. This is my focus, and I’m doing everything that I can to recuperate.”
In June, Dion opened up about her decision to share her diagnosis with the world, saying on the Today show that she “did not take the time” to come to terms with her health issues at first. “My husband, as well, was fighting for his own life,” she elaborated. “I had to raise my kids. I had to hide. I had to try to be a hero. Feeling my body leaving me, holding on to my own dreams.”
Dion’s husband, Rene Angélil, died in January 2016 at age 73 after a battle with throat cancer. They share son René-Charles, 23, and twin sons Eddy and Nelson, 13.
“Lying, for me, the burden was too much. Lying to the people who got me where I am today,” Dion added in her Today interview. “I could not do it anymore.”
After Dion made a surprise appearance at the 2024 Grammy Awards in February, a source told Us Weekly that she “has her good and bad days” and has been “doing lots of physical therapy and voice exercises” since her diagnosis.
A second insider revealed that Dion’s illness “empowered her and changed her mindset,” noting that her “dream is to perform on stage again, and she’s not giving up.”
Dion teased her comeback plans in an April interview with Vogue France. “I’ve chosen to work with all my body and soul, from head to toe, with a medical team,” she said at the time. “I want to be the best I can be. My goal is to see the Eiffel Tower again!”
“For four years I’ve been saying to myself that I’m not going back, that I’m ready, that I’m not ready. … As things stand, I can’t stand here and say to you: ‘Yes, in four months,’” she continued. “I don’t know. … My body will tell me.”
