Céline Dion kicked off her comeback concert tour with great fanfare.
“Finally, it’s amazing we are all together,” Dion, 58, told concertgoers at her Saturday, September 12, concert at the Plenitude Arena in Paris. “I made a promise to come back and to be back on stage.”
She continued, “So here I am, singing for you, singing for me, singing life.”
Dion was diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological condition that causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms, in 2021 and publicly disclosed her health condition the next year. She subsequently canceled her Courage World Tour in 2023 to prioritize her health.
Dion announced in March — on her 58th birthday — that she would headline a limited run of 10 concerts in September and October. Following enormous fan demand, Dion added six additional concerts to the schedule.
Kicking off her Céline Dion Paris shows, the music icon celebrated her accomplished career over four acts as she performed her biggest hits in French and English, including “On ne change pas,” “Because You Loved Me,” “Courage” and “La Wally.”
Before Dion took the stage, she had been working on improving her health for the show in what a source recently told Us was “an incredible labor of love.”
“Trust that Céline would never have taken this on if she didn’t feel she could deliver,” the insider exclusively shared with Us. “It has grown beyond her expectations, which is really incredible. I am not sure her fans understand the commitment behind this. It is going to be spectacular.”
Per the source, Dion put in ”constant, consistent work” to improve her health.
“People may not realize how much work Celine put in to fight this condition and to regain her strength and mobility,” the insider added. “There were many years of figuring out what was going on, that alone can be very daunting, and then to find the right people to help you.”
While the source acknowledged that Dion faced “highs and lows” in her journey, she remained committed to getting her strength back.
“There were very low, emotional times [of her] thinking, ‘What is happening? Why is this happening? Will I get to the other side of this?’” the source told Us, noting that the musician has already seen “such great results with her rehabilitation.”
The insider continued, “She is physically so strong and has done so much hard work to get here. She trains almost every day on top of physical therapy. Céline is incredibly resilient and strong-willed, but she is also very tender and playful. She can laugh at herself and her circumstances.”
