Megastar Celine Dion announced Monday her return to the stage after a long hiatus due to a rare health issue, calling the news, revealed on her birthday, "the most beautiful gift."
Speaking to her fans in a video posted on social media, the 58-year-old Canadian said that her condition had improved and that she would be giving a series of concerts in Paris starting in September.
"This year, I will receive the most beautiful birthday present of my life. I have the chance to see you again and perform in front of you again," she said.
Dion will also release a new single, her entourage confirmed to AFP, composed by one of her best-known songwriters, Jean-Jacques Goldman, who wrote the album "D'eux" which brought her to the attention of the general public.
She is expected to perform this new song during her concerts in Paris, an event that comes more than six years after she was forced to retire from the stage.
Her "Courage World Tour", launched at the end of 2019, was cancelled a few months after it began due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and then due to the singer's health problems.
"Feel good"
"I want to tell you that I am doing very well, that I am taking care of my health and that I feel good," she said in her message published on Monday.
It was in December 2022 that Dion first revealed that he had been diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disease.
The Quebec-born star has been forced to cancel the rest of her concerts for an indefinite period.
Treatment can help relieve the symptoms of this condition, which can cause muscle stiffness in the torso, arms, and legs.
The 2024 documentary titled "I Am: Céline Dion" offered an intimate glimpse into the career of this charismatic artist and the intensity of the pain caused by her illness, including an epileptic seizure.
Despite this diagnosis, Dion vowed to fight to get back on stage.
"I am not dead," the singer told AFP in 2024 on the red carpet, before the premiere of the documentary.
Later that year, Celine Dion sang from the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, while athletes descended the Seine in pouring rain.
The Eiffel Tower lit up again on Monday in honor of Céline Dion, as a crowd gathered to watch a light show on which the words "Paris, I am ready" were projected onto the tower's facade, followed by her rendition of Edith Piaf's "Hymn to Love".
"I'm singing again"
Dion first gained international recognition in 1988 by representing Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin.
At the age of 20, she performed "Ne partez pas sans moi", a song that won her the prize.
The following year, Dion opened the big televised show organized by Switzerland, the host country, with the French song that had won him the victory.
She then released the single "Where Does My Heart Beat Now", marking her switch to English, which propelled her to the top of the international charts.
Over a career spanning several decades, she has sold more than 260 million albums and won five Grammy Awards, including two for "My Heart Will Go On," the hit song from the epic film "Titanic" released in 1997.
On Monday, Dion told her fans that she continued to feel their support despite her years away from the stage.
“Even in the most difficult times, you were there for me. You helped me in ways I can’t describe, and I’m so lucky to have your support,” she said, adding that she was “singing again, and even starting to dance a little.”
Dion will give 10 concerts over five weeks at the Paris La Défense Arena starting September 12.
