Celine Dion is set to return to the stage in Paris on Saturday evening, marking her first full concert in six years after years of battling Stiff Person Syndrome.
Around 30,000 fans are expected at the sold-out Plenitude Arena outside Paris for the opening night of the 58-year-old Canadian singer’s 26-date run. Some fans arrived a day early to celebrate her comeback.
“She’s a legend, she’s iconic,” said Chloe Rydquist, who travelled from London with her wife, Katy. The couple spent around £1,500 ($2,000) on tickets and said seeing Dion perform again was worth the cost.
Over her four-decade career, Dion has sold around 260 million albums in English and French. Her best-known hits include “My Heart Will Go On”, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” and “Because You Loved Me”.
Her residency will feature 16 sold-out shows in September and October, followed by 10 more next May. Fans without tickets have joined free singalongs, karaoke events, costume contests and tribute cruises across Paris.
Dion has also greeted fans outside the Royal Monceau hotel, sometimes singing and dancing with them into the early hours.
Her comeback follows her December 2022 diagnosis with Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare and incurable autoimmune disorder that causes severe muscle stiffness and painful spasms.
Dion has said the condition left her feeling as though she was being strangled and caused cramps so severe that she suffered broken ribs.
The illness forced her to cancel concerts, but she remained determined to return. She offered a glimpse of her comeback at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, where she performed Edith Piaf’s “Hymn to Love” from the Eiffel Tower.
Now, after years of uncertainty, Dion is finally ready to fulfil her promise of returning to the stage.
