Celine Dion fans were left in tears as they watched her close the 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony in Paris on Friday evening.
The Canadian singer, 56, who is battling the incurable stiff-person syndrome, looked incredible in a shimmering silver gown as she performed in front of the Eiffel Tower.
In 2022, Celine disclosed that she had been diagnosed with the neurological disorder stiff-person syndrome which causes muscles to stiffen and spasm .
Céline previously made a vow that she will return to the stage amid her suffering ‘even if she has to crawl’.
And sticking to her guns, Céline is gearing up to make her comeback performance in the French city.
Céline last performed live during her Courage world tour in Newark, New Jersey on March 8 2020. She then canceled her tour amid the Covid pandemic.
Variety reports that the singer is rumoured to be opening the ceremony on Friday, which will mark her first performance since stepping away from the spotlight.
She previously teased her anticipated comeback would be in Paris, in a recent interview with Vogue France.
She said: ‘I’ve chosen to work with all my body and soul, from head to toe, with a medical team. I want to be the best I can be. My goal is to see the Eiffel Tower again!
‘For four years I’ve been saying to myself that I’m not going back, that I’m ready, that I’m not ready… As things stand, I can’t stand here and say to you: ‘Yes, in four months.
‘I don’t know… My body will tell me.’ Céline’s heartbreaking documentary, I Am: Céline Dion has been lauded by critics after it was released last month.
The harrowing film captured over more than a year of filming – follows the star as she battles to continue her normal life and career amid her diagnosis – and has landed a perfect 100 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Céline announced in December 2022 that she had been diagnosed with the syndrome – an extremely rare disorder that makes the muscles in the torso and limbs alternate between spasming and being rigid.
Time critic Rich Juzwiak said the film is the ‘opposite of a vanity project’ and praised Dion for her openness – including recording a difficult moment where she struggles to sing Foreigner’s I Want To Know What Love Is due to the condition causing rigidness in the chest.
The review reads: ‘In a way, I Am: Celine Dion is a meditation on aging and what happens to stars whose abilities diminish with time, rare diagnosis or not. As tragic and debilitating as it is, Dion’s condition gives her a reason to externalize a lot of feelings that many stars never want to acknowledge.
‘Nobody wants to talk about what it means to be past their prime, but SPS has forced Dion to contemplate just that.’
