The legendary Canadian singer Celine Dion touched the audience with her performance during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
On Friday, the celebrated vocalist conquered the obstacle of stiff person syndrome to deliver her first public performance in four years. 2020 was her final live performance in New York.
To finish the ceremony near the Eiffel Tower, Dion performed Edith Piaf’s 1950 classic “Hymne à l’amour” while wearing a sparkling outfit and simply a piano.
After Marcel Cerdan lost his life in an aircraft accident the previous year, Piaf recorded the song in his honour.
It was intended for Dion and Lady Gaga to sing a duet. But she went it alone.
Following the formal opening of the Olympic Games and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron in the Tuileries Garden, the singer gave a performance.
Dion has already graced the Olympic stage twice, in 1996 in Atlanta with her rendition of “The Power of the Dream.”
It was also her first live concert since December 2022, when she revealed she had been diagnosed with stiff person syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological condition that causes excessive muscle tension.
Her older sister, Claudette Dion, disclosed that the singer was unable to control her muscles. For yet, there is no treatment for SPS.
The 56-year-old singer said in April that she was still learning how to manage the illness and that she hasn’t been able to overcome it.
The popular song “My Heart Will Go On” revealed that she works on her muscles five days a week by undergoing “athletic, physical, and vocal training.”
See video below:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ QUEEN ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️#CelineDion #Paris2024 #OlympicGames #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/4HOlVOjXCL
— SOCIAL Patico (@NathanDelMare) July 26, 2024
