Celine Dion gives first live performance since revealing health condition

Canadian Singer Celine Dion performing at the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Olympic Broadcasting Services via AP
Canadian Singer Celine Dion performing at the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Credit: Olympic Broadcasting Services via AP

Celine Dion has given her first live public performance since revealing she is living with stiff person syndrome (SPS), at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

The superstar closed the ceremony from the Eiffel Tower, singing Edith Piaf’s L’Hymne A L’Amour (Hymn to Love).

Her appearance had been teased for weeks, but organisers and Dion's representatives had refused to confirm whether she was performing.

The Canadian singer cancelled her Las Vegas residency due to health concerns in 2021, before revealing her SPS diagnosis in December 2022 and cancelling her Courage World Tour.

She has not performed in public since.

She wrote on Instagram: “I’m honoured to have performed tonight, for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, and so full of joy to be back in one of my very favourite cities!

“Most of all, I’m so happy to be celebrating these amazing athletes, with all their stories of sacrifice and determination, pain and perseverance.

“All of you have been so focused on your dream, and whether or not you take home a medal, I hope that being here means that it has come true for you!

“You should all be so proud, we know how hard you have worked to be the best of the best. Stay focused, keep going, my heart is with you!”

She appeared in the final moments of the Olympics pageantry dressed in a beaded silver gown with a high neckline and appeared emotional as she came to the climax of the song.

Dion’s rare condition causes progressive muscular inflexibility.

Her struggles are documented in her 2024 documentary I Am: Celine Dion, in which she spoke about her desire to return to performing.

In June, at the premiere of the documentary, she said that returning required therapy, “physically, mentally, emotionally, vocally”.

She added: “So that’s why it takes a while. But absolutely why we’re doing this because I’m already a little bit back.”

Dion is a French Canadian from Quebec and has a strong connection to France and the Olympics.

Dion's first language is French, and she has dominated the charts in France and other French-speaking countries.

Celine Dion performs in Paris during the Olympics opening ceremony. Credit: AP

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