Canadian singer Celine Dion has announced her return to the stage, four years after being diagnosed with an incurable disease that affected her voice and ability to walk. BBC News reports. In September and October, he will perform ten times as part of a concert residency in Paris’s La Défense Arena with a capacity of 40,000 spectators. The residency will last from September 12 to October 14. The announcement came on her 58th birthday.
Céline Dion, who is one of the best-selling female artists of all time, has not performed her own program since March 8, 2020. Her Courage world tour was subsequently canceled due to the outbreak of the covid pandemic. Soon after, doctors diagnosed her with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) and she was forced to cancel all remaining performances.
SPS is a neurological disease that affects an estimated 8,000 people worldwide and is caused by malfunctioning of signals transmitted from nerves to muscles. The disease causes muscle spasms and can limit mobility. It can be very debilitating for some. There is no known effective treatment for it.
However, Céline Dion was determined not to let the disease take over her life. “I do sports, physical and voice therapy five days a week. I work on my toes, knees, calves, fingers, singing and voice.” she stated. The effort paid off. Céline Dion made her return to the stage at the 2024 Paris Olympics in style, singing Edith Piaf’s classic chanson song “Hymne a l’amour” from the terrace of the Eiffel Tower.
