Celine Dion is opening up about her experience returning to performing at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday after her Stiff-Person Syndrome diagnosis.
The legendary singer shared a carousel of images on her Instagram after singing “Hymne a l’Amour” by Édith Piaf under the Eiffel Tower during the festivities.
“I’m honored to have performed tonight, for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, and so full of joy to be back in one of my very favorite cities,” she wrote. “Most of all, I’m so happy to be celebrating these amazing athletes, with all their stories of sacrifice and determination, pain and perseverance.”
She continued, “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!”
Dion’s performance comes after she announced her Stiff-Person Syndrome diagnosis in December 2022 and postponed her future Courage tour dates and Las Vegas residency. A few months later, in May 2023, she canceled the rest of the tour.
The autoimmune disorder of the nervous system often results in progressive, severe muscle stiffness and spasms of the lower extremities and back, according to the Mayo Clinic.
In an interview with Today in June, Dion shared that singing with Stiff-Person Syndrome feels like “somebody is strangling you.” She added, “It’s like someone is pushing your larynx. It is like you are talking like that, and you cannot go high or lower. It gets into a spasm.”
Later that month, the “My Heart Will Go On” singer’s documentary I Am: Celine Dion debuted on Prime Video. While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s premiere in New York City, Dion explained that she wanted it to serve as a beacon of hope for people struggling.
“A lot of people in the world are suffering or alone are wondering, and I hope that this documentary gives an opportunity to people, first of all, to let them know that I am here as a mother as an artist, as a woman as an ambassador in a way of I want to help people,” she said. “A lot of people are looking into a bag of empty hope, and it’s pretty dark, and I felt like that for a long time until I realized that this is not living. That’s not even dying. This is just being still, and I didn’t want that anymore. I don’t think I deserved that.”
