Celine Dion Is ‘Ready to Take the Stage Again’: Inside Her Road to Recovery After Olympic Performance

Celine Dion announced her return to performing in the biggest way possible at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. Perched atop the iconic Eiffel Tower in a custom, pearl-beaded Dior gown, she belted out Edith Piaf’s “Hymne à l’amour” (“Hymn to Love”) to close the four-hour program on July 26. “Stay focused, keep going, my heart is with you!” Celine shared in a message to the competing athletes from around the world.

The French-Canadian singer knows what she’s talking about. After leaving the spotlight in 2020 during the pandemic and revealing her struggle with stiff-person syndrome (SPS), an incurable autoimmune disease, she’s finally well enough to begin the next chapter of her career, which will include a new Las Vegas show. “We have been working so hard to put this show together, because I’m back,” she said in June. “I’ll be on stage. I don’t know when exactly but, trust me, I will scream it out loud. I can’t wait.”

It’s been an uphill battle for Celine, 56, who accepted the invitation to perform at the Olympics a year ago, when she was still uncertain if her condition would allow it. “Either I train like an athlete and work super hard, or I switch off and it’s over,” she said in her recent documentary, I Am: Celine Dion, where she hinted at her Paris Olympics appearance. “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!” she said.

Celine Dion Feels at Home in Las Vegas

Hard work had led to this moment, but Celine is not cured. “She knows her autoimmune disorder won’t go away, but her therapies and treatments have made her feel better,” explains an insider. “Enough that she’s ready to take the stage again.”

Las Vegas is also ready to welcome home the performer, who currently holds the record for the two highest-grossing residencies in Sin City’s history. Nearly 3 million fans saw her original show, Celine Dion: A New Day, which ran for five years, from 2003 to 2007, at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace and grossed a whopping $385 million. A follow-up show, simply called Celine, ran from 2011 to 2019, and grossed $296 million.

Today, setting new records is the furthest thing from Celine’s mind. “This time, she’ll probably only do one or two shows a week,” confides the insider, who explains that Celine’s battle with SPS has forced her to pay close attention to her body. “She was a workhorse — nothing could stop her — but now she gives herself some grace. Her shows probably won’t be as intense. She will sit down more, especially if she’s feeling a bit tired, but the fashions will still be extravagant. Her voice will still be the star of the show — that will never change. She wants her fans to experience a true Celine con- cert, not something less.”

Celine Dion Wants to Inspire Others With Her Story

Celine hopes that by being candid about her illness and her battle to live a full life again, she inspires others. “A lot of people in the world are suffering or alone,” she said in her recent documentary. “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.”